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Evidence · NZ Election 2026

Every question, every answer, every source

Everything the study collected, as it was collected on 5 October 2026. Read any answer in full, or download the tables behind every figure in the study.

questions
174
voters the questions were written as
32
answers collected, of 820 planned
815
answers compared like for like
800
pairs of national and town answers
124
answers with sources recorded
774
answers that showed a link
304

01

Every question, with its answers

Each question was written as a voter would ask it and went to all four assistants. Some were also asked from a town. Open a question to read every answer to it in full.

Showing 20 of 174 questions

Show all 174

02

The tables behind the study

Every figure on the study page comes from these tables. They are CSV files, which open in any spreadsheet.

  • Questions

    nz-election-2026-questions.csv

    One row per question.

    Question id, report reference, question, voter, issue, towns it was also asked from, answers per assistant

    174rows

    Download questions (CSV)

  • Answers

    nz-election-2026-answers.csv

    One row per answer, with its full text.

    Answer id, question id, assistant, town, words, parties named, showed a link, websites recorded as sources, compared like for like, full text

    815rows

    Download answers (CSV)

  • Sources by answer

    nz-election-2026-sources.csv

    One row for each website recorded as a source of an answer.

    Answer id, question id, assistant, town, website, publisher type

    4,216rows

    Download sources by answer (CSV)

  • Checks against official sources

    nz-election-2026-checks.csv

    One row per statement checked.

    Check, answer id, assistant, what the answer said, verdict, what the source says, source, date

    17rows

    Download checks against official sources (CSV)

  • Who to vote for: coding

    nz-election-2026-guidance.csv

    One row per answer to the eight questions that asked who to vote for.

    Answer id, question id, assistant, what the answer did, the words that show it

    32rows

    Download who to vote for: coding (CSV)

  • Location and national answers

    nz-election-2026-towns.csv

    One row per question asked both nationally and from a location, for each assistant.

    Question, town, assistant, both answer ids, parties named nationally and from the town, same parties

    124rows

    Download location and national answers (CSV)

Use these tables to trace findings back to the original questions and answers. The full text of each answer is also on this page, under its question.

03

Read in full and checked

Some answers were read in detail or checked against official sources. Those appear on the study page, beside the findings they support.

ChatGPT · No location

I'm an eligible voter who finds political jargon difficult and hasn't voted before. I want clear explanations without being talked down to. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. Explain how voting works and why there are two votes using ordinary words.

The basic idea

For the 2026 New Zealand general election, you get two votes on the same voting paper:

  1. Party vote — which political party you want to have representation in Parliament.
  2. Electorate vote — which individual candidate you want to represent your local area.

New Zealand uses a system called MMP (Mixed Member Proportional). The name sounds complicated, but the basic idea is fairly straightforward: one vote helps decide the overall balance of parties in Parliament, while the other chooses your local MP. What is MMP? | Elections NZ

1. Your party vote

You'll see a list of political parties. You put one tick beside the party you want.

This is the more important of your two votes for determining the overall number of seats each party gets in Parliament. Generally, the larger a party's share of the party vote, the more MPs it is entitled to have. What is MMP? | Elections NZ

So, for example, you could think:

"Which party do I want to have the strongest representation in Parliament?"

You do not vote for a particular person with this vote.

2. Your electorate vote

You'll also see a list of candidates standing in your local electorate (your geographical voting area).

You put one tick beside the candidate you want to represent that area.

The candidate with the most electorate votes wins that electorate and becomes an MP. What is MMP? | Elections NZ

You don't have to vote for a candidate from the same party as the one you chose with your party vote. Those two choices are independent. For example, you might choose Party A for your party vote and Candidate B for your electorate vote.

Why have two votes?

Because New Zealand is trying to do two different things at once.

Imagine Parliament as having seats for two purposes:

  • Local representation: "Who should represent people in my area?"
  • Overall representation: "How much representation should each political party have across the country?"

Your electorate vote handles the first question. Your party vote largely handles the second. What happens in a general election? | Elections NZ

That's the "mixed" part of Mixed Member Proportional: Parliament contains electorate MPs, elected by local voters, and list MPs, who enter Parliament from parties' ranked lists to help make the overall number of seats broadly reflect the party vote. What is MMP? | Elections NZ

A simple example

Suppose, purely hypothetically, the party vote ended up like this:

  • Party A: 40%
  • Party B: 30%
  • Party C: 20%
  • Party D: 10%

The party vote would generally lead to Parliament having roughly those proportions of seats for those parties, subject to the MMP rules.

Separately, in your electorate, perhaps Candidate X gets the most votes. Candidate X gets that local seat.

So you could vote:

Party vote: Party C
Electorate vote: Candidate X from Party A

There's nothing contradictory about that.

What happens when you actually vote?

For the 2026 election, Election Day is Saturday 7 November 2026. Voting starts beforehand, with advance voting available. You need to be enrolled by midnight on Sunday 25 October for your vote to count. What to do | Vote NZ

At a voting place:

  1. Someone checks your name on the electoral roll.
  2. You receive your voting paper.
  3. You go behind a screen so you can vote privately.
  4. You make one tick for your party and one tick for your candidate.
  5. You fold the paper and put it in the ballot box.

You don't need photo ID, and if you've forgotten your EasyVote card, you can still vote if you're enrolled. Staff at voting places can also explain the process without telling you who to vote for. What to do | Vote NZ

One useful distinction

You may hear people say "who won the election?" That can be slightly misleading under MMP.

What matters for forming the government is how many seats parties have in Parliament, not simply which party won the most individual electorates. After the votes are counted, parties may need to reach agreements with other parties to form a government. What happens in a general election? | Elections NZ

So, if you're approaching your first vote, a useful way to think about the paper is simply:

Left side: "Which party do I want represented in Parliament?"
Right side: "Which person do I want representing my local area?"

That's why you get two votes. What to do | Vote NZ

Official 2026 voting instructions from Vote NZ

Ask anything

ChatGPT can make mistakes. Check important info.

Captured 5 October 2026 · shown as ChatGPT gave it, not a verified account

Gemini · No location

I'm an eligible voter who finds political jargon difficult and hasn't voted before. I want clear explanations without being talked down to. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. Explain how voting works and why there are two votes using ordinary words.

Welcome to voting! It is completely normal to find political terms confusing at first, and asking questions is the best way to start.

New Zealand uses a voting system called MMP (Mixed Member Proportional). In plain English, MMP is designed to do two things at once: make sure your local area has a representative in Parliament, and make sure Parliament as a whole reflects what the entire country voted for.

When you vote in the general election, you get two separate votes on your voting paper. Here is what they do:

1. The Party Vote (The most powerful vote)

  • What it is: This is a vote for a political party (e.g., Labour, National, Greens, ACT, etc.), not a specific person.
  • What it does: This vote decides the overall balance of power in Parliament. If a party gets 30% of the total party votes across New Zealand, they get roughly 30% of the seats in Parliament.
  • Why it matters: Because it dictates how many total seats a party gets, this vote ultimately decides which party—or group of parties—has enough power to form the government.

2. The Electorate Vote (Your local vote)

  • What it is: This is a vote for a specific person wanting to represent your local geographic area (called your "electorate").
  • What it does: The candidate who gets the most votes in your local area wins the job and becomes your local MP, no matter what party they belong to.

Why do we have two votes?

The two votes let you mix and match:

  • You can split your votes: You might really like a specific local candidate from one party, but want a completely different party to run the country. Under MMP, you can give your Electorate Vote to your favorite local candidate and your Party Vote to a completely different party.
  • You can double up: If you love a particular party and their local candidate, you can give them both of your votes.

A Quick Summary

Think of the Party Vote as choosing who runs the country (by deciding how many seats each party gets), and the Electorate Vote as choosing who fixes things in your local neighborhood.

Are you interested in learning more about how political parties form a government after the votes are counted?

Ask Gemini

Gemini is AI and can make mistakes.

Captured 5 October 2026 · shown as Gemini gave it, not a verified account

Google AI Mode · No location

I'm an eligible voter who finds political jargon difficult and hasn't voted before. I want clear explanations without being talked down to. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. Explain how voting works and why there are two votes using ordinary words.

In New Zealand's 2026 general election, you get two separate votes—one for a political party and one for your local area representative—which lets you help decide both who runs the government and who speaks for your local community.

Voting is your chance to have a say in how the country is run, and the system is designed to be straightforward once you know how the pieces fit together.

Why Do We Have Two Votes?

New Zealand uses a voting system called Mixed Member Proportional (MMP). This system splits your power into two distinct choices on your voting paper:

  1. The Party Vote (The big picture)
  • What it is: This is a vote for the political party you want to see in government.
  • Why it matters: This is the most powerful vote in deciding the overall makeup of Parliament. If a party gets 30% of the total party votes across the country, they get roughly 30% of the seats in Parliament. The party (or group of parties working together) that gets more than half of the total seats gets to form the government.
  1. The Electorate Vote (Your local choice)
  • What it is: This is a vote for a specific person running to represent your local area (called your electorate).
  • Why it matters: Every single area in New Zealand elects one local Member of Parliament (MP) to look after local issues and represent the community in Parliament. The person who gets the most votes in your local area wins that seat, no matter which party they belong to.

How Your Two Votes Work Together

You do not have to vote for the same team for both. This is called "split voting," and many people use it:

  • You might really like a specific local person running in your area, so you give them your electorate vote —even if they belong to a party you do not support overall.

  • At the same time, you can give your party vote to a completely different party whose national plans and values you prefer.

How the Voting Process Works

Participating in the election is a simple, private process handled through the Electoral Commission:

  1. Check and enrol: You need to make sure you are signed up to vote. If you are 18 or older and a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident who has lived here for a year, you are eligible. You can check or update your details on the Vote.nz Website.
  2. Find a voting place: In the weeks leading up to election day, local voting places open up in schools, community halls, and libraries everywhere. You can vote at any voting place in the country, you do not have to go to a specific one tied to your address.
  3. Get your ballot: When you walk in, staff will hand you a voting paper. You do not need to bring photo ID; you just state your name and address. [Elections NZ]
  4. Mark your choices in private: You take your paper to a small private voting booth. There, you mark your tick for one party and one local candidate. Nobody else sees your choices.
  5. Submit your vote: Fold your paper and drop it into the sealed ballot box. Your voice is officially counted.
Ask anything

Captured 5 October 2026 · shown as Google AI Mode gave it, not a verified account

AI Overviews · No location

I'm an eligible voter who finds political jargon difficult and hasn't voted before. I want clear explanations without being talked down to. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. Explain how voting works and why there are two votes using ordinary words.

AI Overview

Voting in the 2026 New Zealand general election is your chance to choose the people who make the laws and run the country. You do not need to understand complicated political jargon to participate.

When you go to vote, you will get one piece of paper with two columns. New Zealand uses a system called MMP(Mixed Member Proportional). All this means is that Parliament is made up of a "mixture" of local people and political parties so that the final result is fair ("proportional") to how the country voted.

The Two Votes Explained

The Party Vote (Left Column) The Electorate Vote (Right Column)
This is a vote for the political party you want to run the country. This is a vote for one specific person to represent your local area.
Why it matters: This is the most important vote. It decides exactly how many total seats (out of 120) each party gets in Parliament. If a party gets 40% of this vote, they get roughly 40% of the seats. Why it matters: New Zealand is chopped up into different geographic areas called "electorates". The local candidate with the most votes in your area wins that seat and goes straight to Parliament to look after your community.

You can mix and match these votes however you like. For example, you can choose a local person from one party because you like them personally, but give your party vote to a completely different party.

How Voting Works (Step-by-Step)

  • Enrol to vote: You must make sure you are signed up. The last day to enrol for this election is midnight on Sunday, 25 October 2026. You can check or update your details on the official Vote NZ website.

  • Find a voting place: You can vote before election day (advance voting starts on Monday, 26 October 2026) or on election day itself, Saturday, 7 November 2026. Voting places are set up in local spots like school halls, churches, and shopping centers.

  • Cast your vote: You do not need to bring any ID. If you are enrolled, you will likely get an "EasyVote" card in the mail—bring it if you can, as it makes finding your name faster, but you can still vote without it. A friendly worker will hand you your voting paper and a pen. You step into a private cardboard booth, put a tick ( ✓ ) next to your chosen party, a tick ( ✓ ) next to your chosen local candidate, fold the paper, and drop it in the ballot box.

If you are ever unsure or need help while at the voting place, you can ask the staff working there. They are trained to guide you through the physical steps without telling you who to vote for.

Ask anything

Captured 5 October 2026 · shown as AI Overviews gave it, not a verified account