By Elishya Perera
AUCKLAND (CWBN)_ The Kiwis voted today to have their say on who should run the country for the next three years. Voting closed at 7 p.m. after polls opened at 9 a.m. local time.
Opinion polls prior to Election Day suggested that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is on course to win a second term, boosted by her successful handling of the Coronavirus pandemic. However, the big question is whether she will win a parliamentary majority, which no party has won since New Zealand adopted the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system in 1996.
In the last political poll before the election, the ruling Labour Party obtained  45.8%, while National recorded 31.1%. Meanwhile, the Greens obtained 6.3%, ACT 7.4% and NZ First 3.5% respectively. This is often due to the fact that certain voters split their vote; giving their party vote to a smaller party, which means it is still a long shot that either Labour or National will win over 50% of the vote.
According to analysts the most likely scenario is that Labour would need to form a government with the Green Party – one of two coalition partners that helped Labour form the government in 2017.
The advance votes, were counted from 9am today and will be released after 7pm. Meanwhile, ballots cast today will be counted after 7pm and results will be released by the Electoral Commission as they come in. However, the referendum ballots are not being counted today. Instead, the preliminary referendum results will be released by the Electoral Commission on Friday, 30th October.
Unlike during the advance voting period, the Electoral Commission’s black-out laws were in place during election day, which prevents anyone from any action that could obstruct or influence voters. Media companies are barred from publishing political opinions, political advertising and other news stories, tweets or social media posts. Politicians are required to take down election signs and hoardings before Election Day and stop distributing any campaign material or doing political walkabouts to win over voters. The purpose of the law is to provide the voters with a quiet day to contemplate their voting decision, without being bombarded by relentless political messaging. Whilst some appreciate the peace and quiet, others question why the law exists. The Electoral Commission estimates around 2 million votes were cast during the advance voting period, and they voted while subject to extensive political campaign ads and media stories.
Join Commonwealth Business News to see the results of the General Election 2020, from 7pm today at https://www.cwbnlive.com/
