New Zealand Votes on Final Day as National and Labour Sit Deadlocked

Polling stations across New Zealand opened at 9am local time Saturday and shut at 7pm, closing out a general election that has effectively been running since October 26. The final day caps a contest that opinion polls suggest is too tight to call.

Early turnout was heavy. By the end of Thursday, more than 1.6 million of the country's roughly 3.8 million voters had already banked their ballots, according to the Electoral Commission — a hefty slice of the electorate locked in before election day even arrived.

New Zealand's election-day rules are among the strictest anywhere. A 19-hour blackout, which lifts when polling places close, bars parties, news outlets and ordinary social media users from saying anything that could sway a vote, including chatter about likely outcomes or campaign issues. Billboards and ads must come down, and even bumper stickers, T-shirts and profile pictures fall under the ban. Breaking the law can draw a fine of up to NZ$20,000 ($11,000).

Heading into the vote, the governing centre-right National Party and the centre-left opposition Labour Party were running neck and neck, with neither on track to win enough seats to govern alone. Both are stumping on the economy, but their prescriptions look nothing alike: National promises to return the budget to surplus through fiscal discipline while expanding the national pension scheme, while Labour is pitching cheaper healthcare and transport. A handful of seats either way could decide who governs.

Results will land quickly. The Electoral Commission aims to release preliminary figures covering 95 percent of polling stations by the end of Saturday night, with the final count — including ballots from New Zealanders abroad — expected by November 27.

The country heads to the polls every three years under a mixed-member proportional system. Voters don't choose a prime minister directly; they pick a local electorate candidate and a political party, and those two votes fill a parliament that typically seats 120 members.