Anyone on Rarotonga, eligible, wanting to cast a vote in person for the 2023 New Zealand general election, has until 4pm today.

Today is election day, Saturday October 14, in New Zealand, in which voters get a say on who will govern the nation.        

A New Zealand Electoral Commission spokesperson said votes are being taken anytime at the New Zealand High Commission in Avarua from 10am to 4pm, with voting due to close today.

The alternative option is online voting with more information on how to enrol and vote from overseas, available at vote.nz 

As a reminder, you are eligible to vote in the NZ General Election if you are enrolled and:

• Are 18 years or older

• Have lived in New Zealand for at least 12 consecutive months at some stage in your life

• Are a New Zealand citizen and have been in New Zealand within the last 6 years, or

• Are a New Zealand permanent resident and have been in New Zealand within the last 4 years.

Cook Islanders, as New Zealand citizens, are eligible to enrol and vote at the New Zealand 2023 General Election from the Cook Islands, provided they meet the following criteria:

• Are 18 years or older
• Have lived in New Zealand for at least 12 consecutive months at some point, and
• Have been in New Zealand within the last 6 years

Voters can enrol or update their details online at vote.nz if they have a New Zealand passport, New Zealand drivers’ licence, or a RealMe ID. Otherwise, they can download and print an enrolment form from vote.nz and complete it by hand and return it by upload, email or post.

Voters in the Cook Islands can download their voting papers from vote.nz/overseas or they can vote in person at the New Zealand High Commission.

Those located on the outer islands can download their enrolment and voting forms online or request a postal vote from the New Zealand High Commission.

No ID is required when voting in person.

If people would like more information on voting from overseas, they can visit vote.nz/overseas.

Voting system

MMP is the voting system used in New Zealand. It stands for “Mixed Member Proportional”. New Zealand uses MMP to choose who represents them in Parliament.

Parliament has 120 seats for its members of Parliament (MPs). During an election, political parties try to win as many seats in Parliament as they can.

Under MMP, those who are eligible get two votes — a party vote and an electorate vote.

When you vote for a party, you help to choose how many seats in Parliament each party gets.

The party vote largely decides the total number of seats each political party gets. Parties with a bigger share of the party vote get more seats in Parliament. Parties also try to win as many electorate seats as possible.

When you vote for a candidate, you help to choose who represents the electorate you live in. This is called your electorate vote. The candidate with the most votes wins, and becomes an MP.

Political parties must get at least 5 per cent of the party vote or win an electorate seat before they can have any seats in Parliament. 

Because MMP is a proportional system, the share of seats a party wins in Parliament is about the same as its share of the party vote. This applies to big parties and small parties.  

Every candidate who wins an electorate gets a seat in Parliament. They are called electorate MPs.

The remaining seats are filled from party lists. Every party has a party list, which is a list of candidates ranked in the order the party wants those candidates to be elected to Parliament. Candidates elected from a party list are called list MPs. 

Usually no party gets enough votes to govern alone. Parties often need to come to an agreement with other parties to form a government or pass legislation. 

Some types of possible agreements are:

• coalitions — when two or more parties join together to form a government
• confidence and supply agreements — when one party agrees to support another on certain issues and laws that are voted on in Parliament.

Political parties represented at the 2023 elections include ACT New Zealand, Animal Justice Party, Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party, DemocracyNZ, Freedoms NZ, Green Party, Labour Party, Leighton Baker Party, National Party, New Conservatives, New Nation Party, NewZeal, New Zealand First Party, New Zealand Loyal, Te Pati Maori, The Opportunities Party (TOP) and Women’s Rights Party.

• Al Williams/New Zealand Electoral Commission