Incoming Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is frustrated by the time it takes to count special votes. Photo: Getty Images / Hagen Hopkins
More money thrown towards the Electoral Commission could slightly speed up the process to count special votes, a Wellington lawyer says.
After three weeks of counting special votes and checking and rechecking all the ballots, the makeup of the next Parliament will be clearer when the full election results are released at 2pm.
Incoming Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has expressed his frustration with the count, saying three weeks is too long.
Electoral law expert Graeme Edgeler told Morning Report parts of the process could be faster, but the timeframe would still be lengthy.
"It couldn't be done in three days, I don't think. Two weeks might be possible, it would just be potentially a question of funding. How much do you want to pay the Electoral Commission to run elections? And the amount of funding we've given at the moment, it's reasonable for them to take three weeks.
"They could probably do it a little quicker, but I don't think they can do it that much quicker."
The three-week process to count special votes was labour intensive because the Electoral Commission was also auditing the election to make sure no one had voted twice, he said.
"They've been checking things like even, we sent 10 pads of votes to this voting place and we got nine pads back and two with half of the vote. Are the right number of voting papers in there and did we get the right number of blank voting papers back? Because there are blank voting papers missing. You've got to find them to make sure no one stuffed them in a ballot box somewhere."
If a politician requested a recount, this task could take another one-and-a-half to three days, he said.
Peter Dunne retired from politics in 2017 after 33 years in Parliament. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
Former politician predicts government will be formed fast
Former politician and United Future leader Peter Dunne told First Up he predicted talks between National, ACT and New Zealand First would be focused on the type of government National wanted to form.
He said it could look like a formal coalition between all three parties, or National and ACT with NZ First as a confidence and supply partner.
"My feeling is despite their coyness, once the results are announced it will be a relatively short period of time of only a few days before these arrangements are finalised and a government is formed."
He was intrigued to see the dynamic between ACT and NZ First.
"If they can strike a good working relationship then I think it makes it much easier for National to govern in a three-party arrangement. If those two are at daggers drawn from day one, it's going to be very problematic."
The challenge will be maintaining all the parties' reputations, he said.
"There's a real management issue of some prickly personalities and not just personalities - each party will be wanting to ensure that its credibility is maintained through this whole process so the two smaller parties aren't seen as just sort of lapdogs and that the National Party is not seen as giving anything away for the purposes of power."
