Possible overhangs, high voter turnout, lower enrolment, and the Opportunity Party all mean the outcome of the election is too close to call, former Labour leader Phil Goff says. 

“Come Election Night, by midnight we may well not know who is going to govern New Zealand and that may take a couple of weeks after that, probably up to the edge of Christmas,” Goff told Ryan Bridge. 

While National could get a “huge overhang” if people split their candidate and party votes, it wasn’t clear if that campaign was working, Goff said. 

He also believed turnout this year would be better than in 2023, based on early voting levels. However enrolment was down, Goff said, claiming up to 100,000 people had been "disenfranchised" by the enrolment cutoff changing. 

The fate of Opportunity was also key, with leader Qiulae Wong saying she would find it very hard to work with NZ First. 

"If the Opportunity Party gets in then there is...a chance that there'll be a change of government. If they don't get in, that makes it much harder for the left-of-centre coalition." 

LISTEN ABOVE 

Possible overhangs, high voter turnout, lower enrolment, and the Opportunity Party all mean the outcome of the election is too close to call, former Labour leader Phil Goff says.&nbsp;
“Come Election Night, by midnight we may well not know who is going to govern New Zealand and that may take a couple of weeks after that, probably up to the edge of Christmas,” Goff told Ryan Bridge.&nbsp;
While National could get a “huge overhang” if people split their candidate and party votes, it wasn’t clear if that campaign was working, Goff said.&nbsp;
He also believed turnout this year would be better than in 2023, based on early voting levels. However enrolment was down, Goff said, claiming up to 100,000 people had been "disenfranchised" by the enrolment cutoff changing.&nbsp;
The fate of Opportunity was also key, with leader Qiulae Wong saying she would find it very hard to work with NZ First.&nbsp;
"If the Opportunity Party gets in then there is...a chance that there'll be a change of government. If they don't get in, that makes it much harder for the left-of-centre coalition."&nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE&nbsp;

A fresh and intelligent start to your day - catch the very latest international and domestic news developments, sport, entertainment and business on Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, on Newstalk ZB.

A fresh and intelligent start to your day - catch the very latest international and domestic news developments, sport, entertainment and business on Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, on Newstalk ZB.

Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

Phil Goff: Former Labour Leader unpacks the election campaign to date

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/e999048c-9bd6-4aad-bdc1-b4f2016c641f/transcript