A matter of hours before all is revealed.
There was an air of excitement at polling booths today, as a steady stream of people filed in to have their say in this year's General Election and referendums.
And with a matter of hours to go before voting closes at 7pm, and preliminary results are revealed shortly after, the fate of the country for the next three years will soon be decided.
Hawke's Bay App visited a number of voting places in the Tukituki electorate.
Waimarama School experienced a busy morning, with people choosing to vote closer to home, instead of traveling to the next closes voting place in Havelock North.
While it had died down by midday, there was still a short queue outside one of the classrooms where two voting booths were available.
In a first, people were also observed enrolling or updating their address details on election day.
However, most people used their EasyVote card to vote.
In Hastings, people flocked to Karamu High School to cast their vote. Voters trickled into the school up until about mid-morning when it got considerably busier.
Of the 2,567 voting places open today from 9am to 7pm across the country, there are 55 in the Napier electorate, 50 in Tukituki and 228 in Ikaroa-Rāwhiti.
The Electoral Commission estimates around 2 million votes were cast during the advance voting period which began on October 3, setting a record for the country.
Last election saw 1.24 million votes cast in the entire advance voting period.
While these advance votes are counted from 9am today, they won’t be released until after 7pm.
Ballots cast today will be counted from after 7pm and results will be released by the Electoral Commission as they come in.
On Friday Chief Electoral Officer Alicia Wright said: “It’s fantastic that so many people have got out early to vote, but there are still a lot who haven’t, and we don’t want them to miss out”.
“It’s important that you have your say on who represents you in Parliament for the next three years. Saturday is your final chance to enrol, vote and be heard.”
Priority is given to the election results and votes in the two referendums on end of life choice and cannabis will not be counted on election night. Preliminary referendum results will be released on October 30, and the official results of the election and referendums will be released on November 6.
People can check where their closest voting place is online at www.vote.nz or by calling 0800 36 76 56.
Results will be available at www.electionresults.govt.nz after 7pm.
