It is almost that time again when Kiwis head to the polls to vote for who they want to be in Government.
New Zealanders will soon decide who they want in Parliament with overseas voting starting on September 27, advance voting kicking off on October 2 and election day on October 14.
Here's how to have your say in this election:
Overseas
If you are out of the country during the election, or a New Zealand citizen living overseas and have been in New Zealand within the last six years, you can still vote from September 27.
Overseas voters can either download their voting papers from the electoral commission, complete them and upload them, or vote in person. The list of overseas voting places can be found here.
The last day you can vote at each overseas voting place is noted in the listing for that voting place.
Voting
Early voting starts on Monday, October 2, two weeks before the election at any voting place in New Zealand.
On election day, Saturday, October 14, all voting places will be open from 9am to 7pm.
To enrol and vote you must be 18 years or over, a New Zealand citizen or a permanent resident, and have lived in the country for 12 months or more continuously at some time in your life. You can enrol at the voting booths if you have not already done so.
You will be able to vote in a number of places around the country. Information about where to vote will be made available here closer to the election.
If getting to a voting place is difficult or not possible, you can vote via a telephone dictation service. For more information on this click here.
When you are heading out to the voting booths, take EasyVote card with you which will be sent to you in the mail. If you haven't got a card or forget to bring it you can still vote. You do not need ID.
Upon arrival, staff in orange vests will guide you. When it is your turn to vote you will be given your voting paper and taken to a voting screen.
You get two votes in the election – a party vote and an electorate vote.
This means you can vote for what political party you would like to be in Government by ticking the circle next to the name of the party you choose on the left side of the paper. You can only vote for one party.
Your electorate vote is for the candidate you would like to represent your electorate in Parliament. You can only vote for one candidate.
You do not have to cast a vote for both a party and a candidate if you do not want to.
Every candidate that wins an electorate becomes an MP for that area and the rest of the seats are then allocated to parties based on their share of the vote. A party has to win five percent of the party vote to enter Parliament if it does not win any electorate seats.
If you make a mistake when you're voting, you can take your 'spoilt' voting paper back and ask for another one. Spoilt papers aren't counted.
Once you are finished voting, fold your paper in half and put it in the voting box. If you are voting in the general election the box will be orange, while the box for the Māori electorate will be grey.
The votes will be counted on the evening of October 14. You can watch Newshub's live coverage of the preliminary results on TV3 or at Newshub.co.nz from 7pm.
If no single party receives enough votes to form a government on their own, which polling suggests will be highly likely, parties will then begin to negotiate with other parties to form a coalition government or a minority government. This can take up to several weeks before the Government is formed.
The official results of the election will be declared on November 3.
