Corrections to be made to a small number of results
The Electoral Commission is working to resolve a small number of data entry errors in the general election official results.
“The number of votes involved is low. It has little impact on the party vote and does not affect the overall results, successful candidates or allocation of seats at all,” says Karl Le Quesne, Chief Electoral Officer.
Some party votes were recorded in the incorrect row for two voting places in Port Waikato and one voting place in Ilam.
The certificates for the results will be updated and signed by the Returning Office (Electorate Manager) and a Justice of the Peace. Any scrutineers who were present for those official counts can also be present when the results are updated.
An amended declaration of the results will be published on electionresults.govt.nz and in the New Zealand Gazette.
“We apologise that these data entry errors were not picked up in the checks made before the official results were published. They should have been corrected and we regret that didn’t happen,” says Karl Le Quesne.
“A full check of all voting place results is being undertaken immediately to establish if there are any other transcription errors,” says Karl Le Quesne.
Acting Electoral Commission Board Chair Jane Meares says she has full confidence in the integrity of the election process and the results.
“A large amount of data needs to be entered to produce the results for a general election, and some mistakes due to human error can occur. However, the Board will commission an independent review of the quality assurance processes in place.”