Jacinda Ardern (left) and Judith Collins (right) are vying to lead New Zealand through the coronavirus crisis. Source: AAP
This blog has now ended
Jacinda Ardern (left) and Judith Collins (right) are vying to lead New Zealand through the coronavirus crisis. Source: AAP
It's one of the most important days of Jacinda Ardern's life, but it sure didn't seem that way when she popped in to thank her electoral volunteers earlier on Saturday.
Ms Ardern bought a generous plate of cheese scones to thank the workers. No word yet on how they tasted.
New Zealand's general election has been unprecedented for any number of reasons.
One concerning trend has been the emergence of far-right political parties in the aftermath of the Christchurch mosque massacre.
Reporter Abbie O'Brien looked beneath this trend earlier in the week.
Polls have closed in New Zealand and counting is underway.
It won't be long until the first results start to trickle in.
Just five minutes to go now until polls close in New Zealand and we can start ripping into the nitty gritty details.
Bear with us..
A huge number of advance votes have already been cast in New Zealand - almost two million, or some 60 per cent of enrolled voters, have already cast their ballots.
That's good news for the early birds, or anyone else sweating on seeing a result tonight.
New Zealand's electoral commission hopes to have 50 per cent of votes counted by 8pm (AEST), and 95 per cent of results counted by 9.30pm (AEST).
Meanwhile, there has been a dose of election day-drama across the ditch here in Australia, after some states opened a one-way travel bubble with New Zealand on Friday.
Some 17 travellers from New Zealand arrived in Sydney on Friday afternoon (which has a travel bubble agreement), before flying-on to Melbourne (which does not have an agreement).
This prompted a major political blame game, as authorities rushed to track down the travellers and fill them in on coronavirus restrictions in Victoria.
In addition to the general election, New Zealand will also be voting on two separate referenda - whether to legalise cannabis, and whether to legalise euthanasia.
In other words, Kiwis will vote on the right to die, and the right to get high.
SBS News reporter Jodie Stephens had an in-depth look at both earlier in the week.
New Zealand has strict general election rules that prohibit what can, and can't, be published on polling day.
Essentially, the rules prohibit the publication of any material that might influence voters before polls close.
Once polls close at 5pm (AEST) we'll be good to go.
Until then, Kiwis have busied themselves with the most wholesome of content - photos of dogs at polling stations.
Here are a few favourites, courtesy of #DogsAtPollingStations on Twitter.
Kia ora all, and welcome to our live coverage of the 2020 New Zealand election.
We'll be bringing you updates and analysis as results start rolling in this evening.
Polls close in a little under an hour - at 5pm (AEST) - and early results should start flowing in soon after that.
Until then, settle in and maybe even crack a nice bottle of Kiwi sav while we wait.
SBS World News
