Saturday 1 October 2005

New Zealand General Election 2005 - Official Results

Statement by the Chief Electoral Officer, Ministry of Justice

Summary

The number of seats in Parliament will be 121, not the 122 seats predicted on election night.

The National Party has lost one list seat compared to election night and now has 48 seats in total.

There are no changes to the number of seats held on election night by other parties.

All electorate candidates leading on election night have been confirmed as winning their seats.

Turnout 80.92% (2002 - 76.98%).

Detailed results are on http://www.electionresults.govt.nz.

www.electionresults.govt.nz.

Background

The official results of the 2005 general election held on 17 September 2005 have been determined in accordance with the electoral legislation. The results are subject to any applications for judicial recounts.

All votes cast on election night have been recounted and balanced and special votes have been checked for eligibility before being counted. This has been done in the presence of justices of the peace and any scrutineers appointed by candidates.

Comprehensive audit checks have also been completed at the national level to ensure the results are accurate. Other processes have also been completed as required by law, including preparation of the master roll for each electorate. Overall Results

Polling Places Counted: Total Votes Counted:2,286,190* PartyParty Votes% VotesElectorate SeatsList Seats

Labour Party: 935,31941.10311950
National Party: 889,81339.10311748
New Zealand First Party: 130,1155.72077
Green Party: 120,5215.30066
Màori Party: 48,2632.12404
United Future New Zealand: 60,8602.67123
ACT New Zealand: 34,4691.51112
Jim Anderton's Progressive: 26,4411.16101
Destiny New Zealand: 14,2100.62000
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party: 5,7480.25000
Christian Heritage NZ: 2,8210.12000
Alliance: 1,6410.07000
New Zealand Family Rights Protection Party:
1,1780.05000
Democrats for Social Credit: 1,0790.05000
Libertarianz: 9460.04000
Direct Democracy Party:
7820.03000
99 MP Party: 6010.03000
OneNZ Party: 4780.02000
The Republic of New Zealand Party: 3440.02000

6952121 *includes informal votes ** calculated using St Lague formula

Composition of Parliament There are two changes compared to election night.

The first change is that the size of Parliament will be 121 seats, an increase of one seat over the normal 120 seats. The additional seat is because the Maori Party won more electorate seats (4 seats) than its entitlement under the party vote (3 seats). The election night results predicted 122 seats in Parliament.

The second change is that the New Zealand National Party is entitled to 48 seats, one seat less than the 49 seats held on election night.

There are no changes to the number of seats held by other parties on election night.

All electorate candidates leading on election night have been confirmed as winning their electorate seats.

Successful Candidates (electorate and list) The names of the 121 successful candidates (electorate and list) are shown in alphabetical order under their parties at Attachment A. The winning electorate candidates and their majorities are shown at Attachment B.

Detailed Results for each Electorate Detailed results for each electorate are available from www.electionresults.govt.nz.

Turnout and Special Votes The number of voters as a percentage of enrolled voters was 80.92%. Turnout for each electorate is shown at Attachment C.

Special votes totalled 248,677 or 10.8% of total votes cast.

Declaration and Judicial Recounts The official results will be declared formally by Gazette Notice today. Any applications for a judicial recount must be filed with the District Court no later than Wednesday 5 October 2005.

Next Steps If there are no applications for recounts, the Chief Electoral Officer will declare the election of constituency members of Parliament and return the writ to the Clerk of the House. The expected date is 6 October.

The Chief Electoral Officer will then allocate list seats in the presence of party scrutineers and declare by Gazette Notice the election of list members of Parliament. The expected date is 7 October.

If there is a judicial recount the return of the writ and the election of list members will be delayed. Any delay is expected to be 4 to 5 days but the time taken for the recount will be a matter for the judge.

Further Statistics Further statistics including official results for each polling place and analysis of special votes are expected to be available, subject to recounts, in the week commencing 10 October at www.electionresults.govt.nz. Split voting statistics should be available on the website in the week commencing 17 October.

Thanks

The Chief Electoral Officer wishes to thank staff and suppliers throughout New Zealand for their extraordinary efforts in conducting the 2005 general election. He also wishes to thank the Secretary of Justice and the Electoral Enrolment Centre for their support. Finally, he wishes to thank party administrators and candidates for their co-operation.

ENDS

© Scoop Media