This time tomorrow, we will know exactly what we voted for on the 14th of October.

The release of the final voting figures will indicate exactly how many seats each party has, and how they can then be part of a coalition, and what the proportion is- and whether they can govern the country or not.

To be honest, I had to ask my co-workers what date the election was on, because it felt so long ago. And the reason for that is because it's been over three weeks since October 14th.

The length between the election and the counting of the votes has upset many people, including Christopher Luxon. Yesterday, he spoke to Mike Hosking, today he was talking about it in his stand-up.

Yesterday, he said he needs to review the electoral law to find out why it takes so long- and perhaps make some changes.

That electorate law, by the way? It's had a lot of changes that have been proposed, he's going to also have to look at the independent electoral review, which suggests all sorts of other changes- like a four year term and a lowering of the electoral threshold. There's a bit of work there.

Those two ideas sound good to me- but you know what? I actually don't have a problem with how long it has taken to confirm this election result.

I know roughly who's going to be leading the Government, I know what their policies are, I know what they're going to have to do to make them happen, I know what they want to do within the first 100 days.

Do I need to know what the exact number is today, or yesterday, or a week ago- or on Friday afternoon? Not really.

I know other places are quicker, and I know we're a small country. But as we learnt from the last election in America, this is not a thing that can be done wrong or have the implication that it might be done wrong.

In New Zealand, we don't do elections wrong. 

And I actually think we've also enjoyed the three-week break from all the sniping and belly-aching and name-calling that oppositional politics delivers.

But here's the thing, in this vacuum we have had, all sorts of rumours spring up. And I think I've seen this all over social media.

Some hard-lefties are positive that the half-million special votes are going to the left bloc, which will change the shape of the election. Some people's loyalties strike them blind.

I've seen some people reckon that New Zealand First's vote will go up, meaning that Winston will be Luxon's right-hand man- not David Seymour.

They reckon that Luxon would enjoy the easier ride with Winston, because - be sure of it - Seymour's going to be tough on Luxon's inherent centrism, which he can't hide no matter how much he protests.

Whatever, we don't know. We will know, for certain, without debate- at 2pm tomorrow.

Tomorrow is going to be great, we're going to start forming a Government after all.

And given that Christopher Luxon, over the last two days, has been so impatient about the result of this election- I think it's obvious he must be willing to wheel and deal at pace.

And then we can start working and moving forward, rather than standing still.

LISTEN ABOVE

This time tomorrow, we will know exactly what we voted for on the 14th of October.
The release of the final voting figures will indicate exactly how many seats each party has, and how they can then be part of a coalition, and what the proportion is- and whether they can govern the country or not.
To be honest, I had to ask my co-workers what date the election was on, because it felt so long ago. And the reason for that is because it's been over three weeks since October 14th.
The length between the election and the counting of the votes has upset many people, including Christopher Luxon. Yesterday, he spoke to Mike Hosking, today he was talking about it in his stand-up.
Yesterday, he said he needs to review the electoral law to find out why it takes so long- and perhaps make some changes.
That electorate law, by the way? It's had a lot of changes that have been proposed, he's going to also have to look at the independent electoral review, which suggests all sorts of other changes- like a four year term and a lowering of the electoral threshold. There's a bit of work there.
Those two ideas sound good to me- but you know what? I actually don't have a problem with how long it has taken to confirm this election result.
I know roughly who's going to be leading the Government, I know what their policies are, I know what they're going to have to do to make them happen, I know what they want to do within the first 100 days.
Do I need to know what the exact number is today, or yesterday, or a week ago- or on Friday afternoon? Not really.
I know other places are quicker, and I know we're a small country. But as we learnt from the last election in America, this is not a thing that can be done wrong or have the implication that it might be done wrong.
In New Zealand, we don't do elections wrong. 
And I actually think we've also enjoyed the three-week break from all the sniping and belly-aching and name-calling that oppositional politics delivers.
But here's the thing, in this vacuum we have had, all sorts of rumours spring up. And I think I've seen this all over social media.
Some hard-lefties are positive that the half-million special votes are going to the left bloc, which will change the shape of the election. Some people's loyalties strike them blind.
I've seen some people reckon that New Zealand First's vote will go up, meaning that Winston will be Luxon's right-hand man- not David Seymour.
They reckon that Luxon would enjoy the easier ride with Winston, because - be sure of it - Seymour's going to be tough on Luxon's inherent centrism, which he can't hide no matter how much he protests.
Whatever, we don't know. We will know, for certain, without debate- at 2pm tomorrow.
Tomorrow is going to be great, we're going to start forming a Government after all.
And given that Christopher Luxon, over the last two days, has been so impatient about the result of this election- I think it's obvious he must be willing to wheel and deal at pace.
And then we can start working and moving forward, rather than standing still.
LISTEN ABOVE

With a straight down the middle approach, Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive on Newstalk ZB delivers the very latest news and views to New Zealanders as they wrap up their day.