Port Waikato by-election official results
The Electoral Commission has released the official results for the 25 November parliamentary by-election in the Port Waikato electorate.
The by-election was held following the death of a Port Waikato candidate during the 2023 General Election.
2023 Port Waikato by-election official results
| TOTAL | 18,728 | |
| Candidate | Party | Number of votes |
| BAYLY, Andrew | National Party | 14,296 |
| COSTELLO, Casey | New Zealand First Party | 2,864 |
| NGARO, Alf Metuakore | NewZeal | 409 |
| RIPPON, Anna Joy | Animal Justice Party | 297 |
| TURNER, Kim | New Zealand Loyal | 237 |
| BRIGHT, Scotty | DemocracyNZ | 225 |
| OVENS, Jill Annette | Women's Rights Party | 188 |
| DICKSON, Gordon John | Independent | 88 |
| SUDHAMALLA, Vijay | Vision New Zealand | 48 |
| Candidate informal votes | 76 |
The winning majority was 11,432 votes. In the 2023 Port Waikato by-election there were:
- 52,470 people enrolled
- a total of 18,815 votes cast, this includes 87 disallowed votes
- 495 special votes, including 66 overseas votes
- 12,510 ordinary and special votes were cast in advance which is 66.7% of all votes.
Voter turnout for the 2023 Port Waikato by-election was 35.9% of the 52,470 people enrolled. That compares with 31.4% turnout at the Hamilton West by-election in December 2022 and 40.5% at the Tauranga by-election in June 2022.
The results are available at electionresults.govt.nz
Next steps
The Electoral Commission expects to return the writ showing the successful candidate on Tuesday 12 December 2023, assuming there are no recounts.
After the writ is returned, the winning candidate Andrew Bayly, who is a National Party list MP, will take up an electorate seat in Parliament. When he resigns his list seat, the next candidate on the National Party list will be asked to fill the vacant list position, which will increase the total number of seats in Parliament to 123.
Background
The official results for the 2023 Port Waikato by-election held on Saturday 25 November have been determined in accordance with the electoral legislation. The results are subject to any applications for judicial recounts.
The scrutiny of the rolls has been completed and the master roll for the Port Waikato electorate has been prepared. All votes cast on and prior to election day have been recounted and special votes have been checked for eligibility before being counted. This has been done in the presence of a Justice of the Peace.