This table shows the key dates for the 2020 General Election and Referendums.
| Date | What happens |
| Friday 28 February | The deadline for parties to tell us that they’re eligible for a broadcasting allocation |
| Friday 29 May | Initial broadcasting allocation decision published on elections.nz website |
| Monday 10 August | Nominations can be lodged from this date |
| Tuesday 18 August | The regulated period starts During the regulated period, any advertising you run to promote a candidate, a party, or an option on the referendum counts towards your expense limits |
| Sunday 13 September | Writ day Parties can start using their broadcast allocation to advertise on TV and radio. Candidate election programmes can also be broadcast. |
| Thursday 17 September | Noon is the deadline for parties to get their bulk nomination schedules and party lists to us |
| Friday 18 September | Noon is the deadline for electorate candidates to get their individual nomination forms to us, and for parties and candidates to withdraw nominations |
| Wednesday 30 September | Overseas voting starts |
| Saturday 3 October | Advance voting starts Nobody can campaign within 10 metres of an advance voting place |
| Friday 16 October | The regulated period finishes All campaign signs must come down before midnight |
| Saturday 17 October | Election day Voters can vote between 9am and 7pm. Nobody can campaign on election day |
| Friday 30 October | Preliminary referendum results will be released (ordinary votes) |
| Friday 6 November | We declare the official results for the general election and referendums We aim to release the results by 2pm |
| Thursday 12 November | If there are no judicial recounts, we return the writ showing elected electorate candidates and declare the elected list members of Parliament (MPs) |
| Monday 1 February 2021 | The deadline for parties to send us their invoices for broadcasting allocation costs |