How do special votes differ from ordinary votes?
How many special votes there have been, which parties they favour and by how much, and the seats they have changed. The settings on the Forecast and Party Vote Seats pages come from these elections.
How many special votes are there?
How many special votes has each election had, and what share of all votes were they?
Number of special votes
Counted, cast in New Zealand
Counted, cast overseas
Disallowed
2026 estimate
Share of all votes
Which parties do special votes favour?
How did each party's share of special votes compare with its share of ordinary votes?
Lean on special votes
How strongly do special votes lean to Left + TOP?
How far did each election's special votes lean to Left + TOP, compared with a typical election?
Are overseas voters different?
How did each party do on overseas special votes compared with special votes cast in New Zealand?
Lean in New Zealand and overseas, 2011–23
Overseas share of special votes
Have the voting rules changed the lean?
What kinds of special vote were cast, and do the 2011–17 and 2020–23 patterns differ?
Kinds of special vote
Each party's lean by period
Did special votes change the seats?
Which seats moved between election night and the final count, and was it the party vote or an electorate?