New Zealanders will head to the polls on Saturday for the final day of voting in the nation’s 54th general election, as some unusual election laws kick in to restrict campaigning and coverage.
Polling stations will open from 9am (GMT 8pm Friday) for New Zealanders wanting to vote in person. About 1 million of the 3.5 million eligible voters have already had their say during two weeks of advance voting.
But after weeks of intense campaigning and non-stop political news coverage, people in New Zealand will wake up on Saturday – perhaps with some relief – to a different reality.
At midnight ahead of each election, political campaigning must cease, the news media is prohibited from publishing new political stories, and thousands of political party signs that populate busy traffic intersections must come down.
It is a criminal offence in New Zealand to do anything that could be seen as encouraging or persuading voters on election day, a law that stems from 19th-century England, where New Zealand gets its parliamentary model. This ban includes advertising, public statements, processions and speeches, as well as displaying candidate, party names, emblems, slogans or logos.
“What the law basically says to people is you have to quietly go to a place without any attempt to influence you or stir up your emotions, and you consult your conscience in private,” said Prof Andrew Geddis, an expert in electoral law from the University of Otago.
“You then cast your vote much in the same way as when you go to church and you make a little prayer to God.”
Voting in neighbouring Australia is a more colourful experience, where people are greeted with flyers from political party volunteers and a “democracy sausage” barbecue at many polling stations. The atmosphere in New Zealand is more “reflective”, Geddis said. To fill the almost awkward void from absent political coverage, New Zealanders often post images of dogs waiting at polling stations.
Exit polling, commonplace in the US where the media cover election day like a fast-paced basketball game, is also banned. This leaves New Zealanders in the dark about results until the media blackout lifts at 7pm. The UK maintains a similar media ban for its elections.
There is yet to be anyone fined for breaking the rules, according to Geddis. During the last election in 2020, the Electoral Commission scolded numerous foreign politicians for showing their support on social media for a New Zealand party or candidate.
Many of the rules are “historic legacy” that doesn’t suit modern voting, said Richard Shaw, a political professor at Massey University. A small number of voters are undecided when they get to polling stations so many wouldn’t be swayed anyway, he said. There’s also a growing number of people who vote in advance while political campaigning is at its peak.
The Guardian will live blog the election results after 7pm.
