Today is writ day  ̶  a milestone on the election calendar when the formal writ is issued for the 2023 General Election to be held.

The Governor-General, Her Excellency The Rt Hon Dame Cindy Kiro, signed the writ at Government House today directing the Electoral Commission to conduct the 2023 General Election on Saturday October 14.

 “The signing of the writ is a constitutional step in the election process. It sets out the dates for candidate nominations to close, election day, and the date the writ must be returned showing the successful electorate candidates,” says Chief Electoral Officer Karl Le Quesne.

Candidate nominations will close on the following dates:

• Noon Thursday, September 14 - the deadline for registered parties to nominate their electorate candidates and supply their party lists to the Electoral Commission.   
• Noon Friday, September 15 - the deadline for individual nominations of electorate candidates. 

A full list of parties and candidates is expected to be publicly available online at vote.nz by 2pm, Saturday, September 16.

The writ must be returned showing the successful electorate candidates by Thursday, November 9 unless a recount is required.

Writ day marks other key events in the election calendar. The electoral rolls close for printing at midnight and all voters who enrol after today cast special declaration votes. Writ day is also the day when candidate and party advertising may start on television and radio.   

The election timetable is available online at vote.nz/key-dates