Official result of the second referendum on the New Zealand flag
The Electoral Commission has released the official result for the second referendum on the New Zealand Flag. The referendum asked the question:
“What is your choice for the New Zealand flag?”
The option with the most votes was Option B: Current New Zealand Flag.
The votes were cast as follows:
|
Votes |
Number of Votes Received |
Percentage of Total Valid Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Option A: Silver Fern Flag
|
921,876 |
43.2% |
|
Option B: Current New Zealand Flag
|
1,208,702 |
56.6% |
|
Informal Votes |
5,044 |
0.2% |
|
Total Valid Votes |
2,135,622 |
100% |
The total votes received were 2,140,895, which includes 5,044 informal votes (0.24%) and 5,273 invalid votes (0.25%).
Voter turnout is 67.78%. Turnout is calculated by taking the total votes received as a percentage of the total number of voters enrolled as at 3 March 2016 (3,158,576).
Informal votes are those where the voter has not clearly indicated the option they wish to vote for. This can be because the voter leaves the paper blank, the voter takes deliberate action to spoil the paper, or an error by the voter means that their intention is not clear.
Invalid votes are excluded from the count and include, for example, voting papers that cannot be processed because the voter has made the QR code unreadable, voting papers that have been cancelled as a result of replacement voting papers being issued, or voting papers returned late.
The official result is available from www.electionresults.govt.nz. This includes a breakdown of votes by electorate.