Counting down to a final result

Polling booths may be open until 7pm this evening, but the vote count gets underway even before that time.

Counting started from 3pm today with the tabulation of three weeks' worth of advance votes at returning officers' headquarters nationwide.

When the last voter has left at about 7pm tonight, each manager of the country's 2700 polling places will start the preliminary count.

Ballot boxes are opened and the party votes and electorate votes are counted in the presence of scrutineers and polling place officials.

The managers reconcile the number of ballot papers issued with the number of ballots cast.

General electorate and party votes are counted first, then the Maori electorates. If the polling station is used for two different electorates, those votes are counted, too.

Special votes, which have been cast by voters outside their electorate, are not opened, but are set aside for the official count.

The results - and the number of special votes cast - are then phoned to the electorate's returning officer, who checks the data and feeds it into the Chief Electoral Office's national election results system.

The office, in Wellington, maintains an overview of the entire vote count. Results are updated and displayed on www.electionresults.govt.nz and fed to the media.

Votes are repacked into ballot boxes, and taken under security to the returning officers the same night or first thing on Sunday.

Preparations for the official count begin on Sunday. Compiled at returning officers' headquarters, all votes counted on election night are recounted and checked to ensure accuracy.

The returning officer also checks the eligibility of special voters against the electoral rolls and the list of late enrolments. If enrolment can be confirmed, the vote is counted.

Special votes are then entered into the computer system to enable returning officers to track the votes coming to their electorates. By law, all special votes - including those from overseas - need to reach returning officers within 10 days in order to be included in the count.

Chief Electoral Officer David Henry said the preliminary results - despite not including the special votes - are a reasonable indication of Parliament's make-up.

In 2002, no electorate results changed after the official count was completed, although special votes allowed one party to gain an extra list seat at the expense of another party.

Mr Henry expects the official results to be published on October 1, two weeks after polling day, subject to any recount applications.