The 2026 General Election is coming up on 7 November 2026, and an important part of the democratic process is keeping people, their information, and votes safe and secure.

• Information about you is collected when you enrol to vote, find out how it is used.
• Many steps are taken to ensure your vote is secret.
• The people who work in voting places are paid and trained by the Electoral Commission. They follow strict processes so no one knows how you voted.
• If you're volunteering for a political party or candidate, there are steps you can take to maintain people’s privacy

Enrolling to vote

When you enrol to vote, the information you provide is used to identify you and confirm that you’re eligible to enrol and vote. The Electoral Commission also uses your information to stay in touch with you about enrolling and voting ahead of electoral events. 

The Commission will ask for your full name, date of birth, address (which determines the electorate you vote in), your contact phone number and email. You also indicate whether you are of Māori descent. If you are, you can choose which roll you want to be on – the Māori roll or general roll.

You also sign a declaration confirming that the information provided on your enrolment form is true and correct, and that you’re eligible to enrol.

You have the right to see a copy of any personal information held about you, and also to ask for it to be corrected.

Find out more about how the Electoral Commission protects your privacy and uses your information.

Your vote is secret

The people who work in voting places are paid and trained by the Electoral Commission. They follow strict processes so nobody knows how you voted.

When you cast your vote in a voting place, you’ll be directed to fill in your voting paper behind a voting screen. You don’t have to tell anyone who you voted for, and no one can tell you who to vote for – the choice is always yours. 

You can get help to vote if you need it, such as voting with help from a support person. Your support person can’t tell you who you should vote for.

Once you’ve marked your voting paper, you put it in a ballot box. Ballot boxes remain unopened until the count begins and are stored in secure locations. This sometimes means moving ballot boxes from voting places to secure storage at the end of each day. 

The Electoral Commission’s ballot paper handling processes keep your voting paper separate from any identifying information at all times.

After the official count, the voting papers are sealed in envelopes and put in boxes closed with tamper proof seals. The boxes are held in secure storage for six months after the election in case the voting papers are needed for a legal challenge. 

After six months, the boxes are taken out of storage and voting papers are shredded and destroyed securely, and the paper recycled.

Find out more about what happens to voting papers.

Maintaining people’s privacy when working with parties and candidates

If you’re working with or volunteering for a political party or candidate, there are steps you can take to maintain people’s privacy. You are required to ensure the personal information in your care is kept safe, and the privacy of the people whose information you hold is upheld.

• If you’re collecting enrolment forms, the information collected can only be used for the purpose it was collected. For example, if someone has put their phone number on an enrolment form, then that phone number can only be used by the Electoral Commission for their enrolment. It cannot be used to contact that person for any other reason. Completed forms should be returned to the Electoral Commission as soon as possible so they can process and confirm the enrolment. Order brochures, posters, and forms from the Electoral Commission.
• Scrutineers are appointed by candidates and parties to observe the voting process. If you are acting as a scrutineer in a voting place, you must complete a secrecy declaration. Scrutineers may observe, but not interfere with, every aspect of voting and the count of votes. Find out more about what is required of scrutineers 
• The Electoral Commission asks that you do not take photographs or film in a voting place. This is to protect the privacy of other voters and the secrecy of the vote. Sometimes the news media or candidates will be given permission to film or take photos in a voting place, but they are given strict guidelines about what they can and can’t film. Find out more about the rules during voting.

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