Referendums
Referendums on the End of Life Choice Act 2019 and the Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill will be held with the general election. There are advertising rules and spending limits for the referendums, similar to those for third parties at a general election. This handbook will help explain how the referendum rules apply.
Advertising and campaigning
All advertisements relating to the election in any medium will need a promoter statement.
From 1 January 2020, parties and candidates can’t keep overseas donations greater than $50.
Enrolling and voting
People can enrol to vote online using their driver licence, passport or RealMe verified identity.
Voters in New Zealand will be able to enrol on election day.
Prisoners sentenced to less than 3 years imprisonment will be eligible to vote.
Counting votes and releasing results
Referendum votes will not be counted on election night — we’ll count referendum votes after election day. We’ll release preliminary results (ordinary referendum votes) for each referendum on Friday 30 October.
We’ll process and count overseas votes in Wellington rather than in the electorates.
The period for declaring the official results and returning the writ has been extended. After we count special votes, we’ll release the official results for the general election and referendums on Friday 6 November.