The 2026 New Zealand Election Study

The 2023 New Zealand Election Study will be in the field in the weeks following the 2026 general election. Our target is 3,000 participants.  

Principal Researchers

Victoria University of Wellington

Luke Oldfield
Tom Jamieson
Mona Krewel
Jack Vowles

Associate Investigators

Charles Sturt University

Dominic O’Sullivan (Te Rarawa, Ngāti Kahu)

About the 2026 New Zealand Election Study

The 2026 New Zealand Election Study will be in the field in the weeks following the 2026 general election. Our target is 3,000 participants.  Invitations to participate online will be sent by postcard to a sample from the electoral rolls.  A hard copy will be sent on request. The online survey will include te reo Māori and Chinese language options. The 2026 NZES will be funded by Victoria University of Wellington and the Electoral Commission.  The budget is tight and more funding will be desirable to improve quality, increase the sample size, and maximise the response rate. Potential funders/donors should contact us at nzes@vuw.ac.nz. Accredited funders will have advance access to the data.

The NZES 2026 dataset will hosted by the Australian Data Archive.

Data & Documents

2026 Survey Data (Coming in 2026)

Further Reading


Greaves, L. M., Oldfield, L., Von Randow, M., Sibley, C. G., & Milne, B. (2020). How low can we go? Declining survey response rates to new zealand electoral roll mail surveys over three decades. Political Science, 72(3), 228-244. 10.1080/00323187.2021.1898995


Vowles, J. (2000). The New Zealand election study. Political Science, 52(2), 150-157. 10.1177/003231870005200205