New Zealand begins voting for legislative elections – 02/10/2023 at 00:06

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealanders began voting to choose a new government on Monday in an early vote that will continue until the October 14 general election day in which the right-wing opposition is the favourite.

According to Director General of Elections Karl Le Quesne, 400 polling stations opened on Monday and their number will increase in the coming days.

Early voting is seeing increasing success in the country to the point that in 2020, 68% of votes were cast in advance, Carl Le Quesne explained in a press release.

The opposition National Party is currently leading in opinion polls, but it is unlikely to get enough support to govern alone, and will likely have to reach an agreement with at least one smaller party.

However, New Zealand’s mixed member proportional system can be full of surprises.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, the Labor leader, is currently in isolation due to coronavirus and cannot campaign.

(Reporting by Lucie Cremer; French version by Elisabeth Pinault; Editing by Jean Terzian)