At Stake in this Election: 

• All 120 seats of the New Zealand Parliament 

Government Structure:  

• Chief of State: King CHARLES III (since 8 September 2022) 

• Represented by Governor-General Cindy KIRO (since 21 October 2021) 

• Head of Government: Prime Minister Chris Hipkins (since 25 January 2023) 

• Assembly: unicameral Parliament (Pāremata Aotearoa) with 120 seats 

Electoral System:  

• The King is a hereditary monarch. 

• The Governor-General is nominated by the Prime Minister and appointed by the monarch. 

• The parliamentary majority leader is appointed Prime Minister by the Governor-General. 

• In Parliament, 72 members are directly elected by plurality vote in 65 general constituencies and 7 Māori constituencies. Each set of constituencies covers the entire country, and Māori voters may choose to vote in either their local Māori or general constituency. An additional 48 members are directly elected by closed party-list proportional representation vote. All members serve 3-year terms. 

Last Election: 

In 2020, the Labour Party won a parliamentary majority with 65 seats, followed by the New Zealand National Party (33), the Green Party (10), and ACT New Zealand (10). Voter turnout was 80%. 

New/Unique in this Election:  

In 2023, voter registration procedures changed to allow Māori voters to switch their registration from the general roll to the Māori roll (or vice versa) at any time other than 3 months before parliamentary or local elections. Previously, Māori voters could only switch rolls during a Māori Electoral Option period which occurred every 5-6 years. 

Key Deadlines: 

• Candidate filing deadline:  

• 14 October 2023 for candidates contesting constituency-specific seats (general or Māori roll) and candidates running as independents 

• 15 October 2023 for candidates running on party lists 

• Voter registration deadline: N/A; New Zealand uses an active, rolling voter registration system. Voters may register at any time, including election day. 

• For Māori voters, the deadline to switch between the general and Maori voter rolls was 13 July 2023 

Main Parties in this Election: 

• Labour Party 

• Leader: Chris HIPKINS 

• Seats won in last election: 65 out of 120 

• New Zealand National Party 

• Leader: Christopher LUXON 

• Seats won in last election: 33 out of 120 

• Green Party 

• Leader: Marama Mere-Ana DAVIDSON 

• Seats won in last election: 10 out of 120 

• ACT New Zealand 

• Leader: David Breen SEYMOUR 

• Seats won in last election: 10 out of 120 

Population and Registered Voters: 

• Population: 5,109,702 (2023 est.) 

• Registered Voters: 3,480,698 (2023 est.) 

Gender Data: 

• Female Population: 2,553,851 (2023 est.) 

• CEDAW Status: Signed 17 July 1980, Ratified 10 January 1985 

• Gender Quota:  No 

• Female Candidates in this election: Yes 

• Number of Female Legislators (pre-election): 60 out of 120 (50%) in Parliament 

• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 0.937, Very High, Rank 13 (2021) 

• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: 14.0 (2023) 

Disability Data: 

• CRPD Status: Signed 30 March 2007, Ratified 25 September 2008 

• Projected population with a disability: 766,455 (2023 est.)  

IFES Resources: 

• Does IFES have a presence in New Zealand: No  

• Election Access: Yes 

• Election Judgements: Yes, 7 judgments and 9 resources