Health Minister Chris Hipkins says there's no guarantee the situation in November will be any better than in September when it comes to hosting an election.
The election - as well as two highly anticipated referendums - are due to be held on September 19, with early voting starting two weeks before then.
There has been speculation the date could be changed however. At present, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern could unilaterally decide to move it, as Parliament has not yet been formally dissolved - delayed due to the new outbreak of COVID-19.
"Should the Prime Minister conclude the planned election date is no longer tenable, she can simply nominate another Saturday instead," University of Otago law professor Andrew Geddis wrote for The Conversation last week.
Hipkins told Magic Talk's Road to the Election on Sunday he personally hasn't had a lot of time to think about it.
"I've been very focused on the response and doing the right thing and making sure that we're getting New Zealand safe again as quickly as we possibly can. Obviously having an election looming is challenging, but there's no right time here. This virus could be with us for some time."
The Electoral Commission's planning of this year's election was based on the assumption the entire country would be on alert level 2. Up until last week's new cases that perhaps seemed overly cautious - but now the largest city, Auckland, is at level 3.
"The Electoral Commission's planning is based on a nationwide level 2... with small pockets of greater restrictions," said Hipkins. "Auckland wouldn't necessarily count as a small pocket, so that would be challenging for them.
Ardern is expected to make an announcement on the election date on Monday morning. If she doesn't change it, that doesn't mean it will necessarily go ahead on September 19 as planned.
"Once Parliament is dissolved, the matter goes completely to the Electoral Commission," said Hipkins. "They do have some ability to shift dates on their own, free from any political interference."
He said the main thing was ensuring everyone eligible to vote can do so safely.
"The key criteria and the key thing the Prime Minister will be looking at, thinking about, is how do we make sure everybody's right to vote is preserved and protected? When can we ensure that everybody can vote? That is unpredictable. If we push the election out to November for example as some are suggesting, there's no greater guarantees in November than there might be in September."
National leader Judith Collins has suggested postponing the election until next year, saying campaigning will be impossible under alert level 3.
