The Auditor-General has completed a review of vote counting errors in the 2023 General Election.
The Electoral Commission sought an independent review after data entry errors were found in the 2023 General Election official results. The errors were corrected, and the results republished on 9 November 2023.
The errors had no effect on the outcome in any electorate or for the allocation of seats in Parliament.
The Office of the Auditor-General’s report was presented to Parliament on 7 May 2024.
General Election 2023: Independent review of counting errors (Office of the Auditor-General)
Electoral Commission response
The Electoral Commission welcomes the report and will fully implement the Auditor-General’s recommendations to strengthen the way votes are recorded, counted and checked.
Work underway on 7 May 2024 includes:
- a comprehensive internal review of the delivery of the 2023 General Election and post-election period
- adopting a new assurance framework
- audits of post-election and enrolment processes to identify any further gaps or improvements
- reviewing operating manuals and training to improve the implementation of quality assurance controls during delivery of elections
- prioritising improvements to post-election processes to improve the integrity and timeliness of the official count
- approving short-term changes to strengthen the official count process for any by-election required before a full review of post-election processes is completed.
The Board of the Electoral Commission will closely monitor and report on the delivery of these and other improvements to ensure New Zealanders can continue to have trust in the delivery of elections.
Updates on the implementation of the Auditor-General’s recommendations will be posted on this page.