2026 General Election
The New Zealand General Election will be held on Saturday 7 November. Overseas voting will commence on Wednesday 21 October and will close no later than 4:00 pm (local time) on Friday 6 November at overseas voting places. All voting will close 7:00 pm (New Zealand time) on election day, Saturday 7 November.
Key enrolment dates
The last day for New Zealand Māori, who are already enrolled, to change roll types (General and Māori) is midnight (New Zealand time), Thursday 6 August. Rules around enrolment have changed. At this election, you must be enrolled by midnight (New Zealand time), Sunday 25 October to vote in the election.
Overseas voting services
From Wednesday 21 October, overseas voters can obtain their voting papers by:
✅ Downloading them from www.vote.nz(external link)
✅ Visiting an overseas voting place and voting in person
✅ Requesting a postal vote from an overseas voting place
Rules around overseas postal voting have changed. Postal votes are no longer issued from or returned to New Zealand. All postal votes must now be issued from and returned to overseas voting places.
There are dictation voting services available to overseas voters who are blind, partially blind or have a physical disability which prevents them from marking a ballot paper without assistance.
Voters who are in remote locations and not able to access standard overseas voting services may also access alternative remote voting methods. All requests must be forwarded to the overseas team at the Electoral Commission.
Best way to vote from overseas
The best way to vote overseas is to download your voting papers from www.vote.nz(external link), complete them, then upload them. A link to download your voting papers will be available on www.vote.nz(external link) from the date overseas voting opens.
To download your voting papers, you must be enrolled. You may also be able to vote in person at an overseas voting place.
Enquiries
General information on how to vote from overseas is available at www.vote.nz/overseas(external link). If you have any questions, please contact the Electoral Commission or the New Zealand Embassy in Tokyo.
Enrolment enquiries: enquiries@vote.nz
Overseas or remote voting enquiries: overseas@vote.nz
Dictation voting enquiries: dictation@vote.nz