New Zealand election too close to call with over 95% of votes counted

Initial results from the New Zealand election show the country's two main parties are neck-and-neck, with DW News reporting that fewer than 4,000 votes separate them. Neither party has secured an outright majority. Official results are not expected until later this month once special votes have been counted.

According to Malay Mail, the campaign was dominated by concerns regarding the economy and the rising cost of living. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon sought to maintain his right-wing coalition by promising no new taxes. While National Party candidates were shown to be ahead at a gathering in Auckland, Labour party workers expressed confidence at an event in Upper Hutt that they had secured the largest number of seats. National lawmaker Mark Mitchell described the race as "very close."

Brief written by urgent.news from DW News, Malay Mail — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.