100 days until the enrolment gerrymander rules designed to steal the election come into effect

The Daily Blog launched an Election 2026 enrolment countdown because this year you must be enrolled by midnight on Sunday 25 October 2026 if you want to vote. This is not an Electoral Commission ad. It is TDB doing what independent media should do: pushing people to participate.

Election 2026 is already becoming one of the most polarised and volatile political battles New Zealand has seen in decades — and independent media will either survive it, or be drowned out by billionaire narratives, corporate spin and algorithmic outrage.

Maybe more than any election in modern New Zealand history.

2026 is shaping up to be a political, cultural and economic knife fight over what kind of country we become — who gets protected, who gets blamed, who gets silenced, and who gets rich.

And in the middle of all that, independent media matters more than ever.

Because most corporate media won’t challenge power anymore. They recycle the same narratives, protect the same interests, platform the same voices and call it “balance” while inequality explodes, public services collapse, and political debate gets boiled down to clickbait outrage and culture war sludge.

The Daily Blog exists to push back against that.

• We don’t get funding from billionaires.
• We don’t get money from political parties.
• We don’t get propped up by vested interests.

We survive because readers decide independent journalism is worth defending.

If you believe New Zealand still needs:

• fearless political debate
• journalism willing to challenge power
• media not owned by the mega-wealthy
• dissenting voices that refuse to toe the line

…then now is the time to help keep that space alive.

Because the forces lining up for Election 2026 are well funded, organised and relentless.

What the new voting restrictions mean for New Zealanders

Let’s be very clear, by gerrymandering the National, ACT and NZ First to ban over 400,000 special votes means they have already successfully stolen the election.

That’s what makes this announcement by the commission so insulting…

Focus on boosting enrolment after government’s new voter restrictions – Electoral Commission 

Le Quesne said the Commission was expecting to have increased numbers of special votes this election, despite changes banning prisoner voting, same-day enrolment votes, or voting if not enrolled at least 13 days before the election.

“It’s really, really hard to say, but that’s why we’re putting so much effort into enrolment and getting people to get enrolled and update their details well ahead of time,” Le Quesne said.

“We’re planning for a similar turnout rate, if not slightly higher, than the ’23 election. We have to plan for any eventuality.”

Why special votes are at the centre of the controversy

Special votes take about 10 times longer to count than standard votes.

Electoral Commission pushes back on Government claims

Le Quesne previously told a select committee the changes – passed in December – would not speed up the final election results, despite government claims that was the purpose of the legislation.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon then criticised the Commission as the “slowest folk on the planet”.

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has maintained the changes will keep the counting period from extending further in future, but Le Quesne on Thursday said it was “too hard to say” whether the law changes made any impact on how fast the count would be.

“At this stage, we’re still planning for 20 days,” he said, the same as the 2023 election. “If we can do it earlier, we will.”

He indicated any faster count was more likely to be the result of additional resources.

RNZ

Government justification vs reality of vote counting

…the entire rationale by Goldsmith on gerrymandering the rules was to get the result quicker, but the Electoral Commission is telling Goldsmith that the delay will still be 20 days to count overseas votes.

This is terribly embarrassing for the Government because the argument used to rob people of voting would be a quicker result, but it will still be 20 days regardless.

Why critics say this impacts election fairness

Let’s be very clear – this is gerrymandering.

The vast majority of those 400,000+ votes cast go to the Left!

National, ACT and NZ First have specifically targeted a section of the electorate and shut it down to influence the final result!

So National, ACT and NZ First have stolen the election by disenfranchising over 400,000 voters pretending its about getting quick result when it will still take the same time.

You’ve been played, NZ.

If you are not incandescent with rage, You aren’t paying attention!

National, ACT and NZ First are stealing this election!

ENROL NOW – we only have 100 days left!

 

Independent Media is more important than ever, especially in the lead up to the Election. TDB is the largest Left Wing Blog in NZ and we have been operating for 13 years now. We get zero funding g from NZ on Air and we don’t have no rich backers. If you can donate please do so here or directly into our account – 12-3065-0133561-56