Early voting began on Oct 26 and, by Tuesday, 1,250,057 votes had been cast. (EPA Images pic)WELLINGTON: New Zealand's party leaders made final appeals to voters on Thursday, three days before a general election that polls show is too close to call as discontent around an ailing economy continues to swell.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told reporters while campaigning in Hawke's Bay that the election would likely go down to the wire.
"The message is pretty simple -- it's going to be tight and close," he told reporters, "we want to encourage everybody to get out and party vote National," urging voters to give National another three years to "complete the job".
Polls released this week showed no clear majority for either bloc of parties, with the centrist Opportunity Party positioned as a potential kingmaker. Political commentators expect it could take weeks for New Zealand to form a government with support growing for smaller parties as voters lose confidence in the two largest ones.
