WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Counting ended on Saturday night with New Zealand’s two big parties locked together. AAP News put Christopher Luxon’s National Party on 29.4% of the vote at the 60% mark, with Chris Hipkins’ Labour close behind on 29.3%.
The later count changed little. Ballots counted passed 95% as the night wore on. The parties stayed a few thousand votes apart, each holding a shade under 30%. Two seats — that was the majority the Electoral Commission’s projection gave the National-led ruling coalition.
“It is heartening to see that on the numbers so far, National is once again the largest party in parliament, and we have a pathway to forming the next government,” Luxon told supporters in Auckland.
“But I have to tell you right now, it is too close to call.”
Hipkins gave supporters in Upper Hutt, a city northeast of Wellington, a similar message. “Tonight, New Zealand has spoken. It may take us a little bit longer to figure out exactly what it is that you’ve said,” he said.
Minor parties gain ground
The seat picture at that earlier stage looked a touch clearer. Commission projections at the 60% mark gave National, ACT and NZ First 67 seats between them. Labour, the Greens and the Maori Party, joined by Opportunity, reached 63. David Seymour’s ACT took a record 10.9% of the vote. The Greens claimed a record vote on 13.7%.
“It’s going to take some time before it becomes clear,” Seymour said of the outcome. “What I do know is it’s a record result for ACT tonight and we are so happy.”
The tight count cost the government senior figures. Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Defence Minister Paul Goldsmith all but conceded their seats, and AAP News reported the result had also ended the career of Speaker Gerry Brownlee. “It is looking very unlikely I will be returned,” Willis said.
Special votes still to come
The centrist Opportunity Party crossed the 5% threshold it needs to enter Parliament, on about 5.6% of the vote, and looks set to win seats for the first time. Its leader, Qiulae Wong, told public broadcaster TVNZ she would look to negotiate with the party that secured the largest number of seats after the official results.
That wait will be a long one. Special votes, including ballots cast overseas and by people outside their electorate, are not counted until the official results are released on Nov. 27, and there is no deadline for forming a government, according to Reuters. Special votes have typically favoured the left.
Advance voting began on Oct. 26, as Virginia Times noted when voting opened in New Zealand, and nearly 1.7 million of the country’s 3.8 million eligible voters had cast a ballot by Thursday.
The six-week campaign was fought mostly on the cost of living. New Zealand has come only slowly out of a long downturn, with unemployment at 5.7% in the third quarter, its highest in 11 years, and health care and housing affordability also high among voter concerns.
Under the mixed member proportional system in place since 1996, voters choose both a party and a local candidate, for 71 electorate seats and at least 49 party seats. Coalitions are the norm, and on Saturday’s numbers one or more smaller parties will almost certainly be part of the next government.
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