---
name: elections-nz
description: "Query official New Zealand election results, electorate voting, turnout, aggregate party political finance and reporting rules from the Electoral Commission."
license: MIT
compatibility: "Requires Python 3.10+ and network access for live data"
metadata:
  thecolab.category: "government"
  thecolab.source_owner: "Electoral Commission"
  thecolab.source_type: "official"
  thecolab.auth: "none"
  thecolab.access_mode: "public-download"
  thecolab.data_class: "public"
  thecolab.writes: "false"
  thecolab.browser: "false"
  thecolab.risk: "low"
  thecolab.cache_ttl: "24h"
  thecolab.schema_version: "1"
  thecolab.skill_type: "public-download"
  thecolab.pack: "nz-public-data"
  thecolab.source_url: "https://elections.nz/stats-and-research/"
  thecolab.allowed_domains: "elections.nz,www.elections.nz,electionresults.govt.nz,www.electionresults.govt.nz"
  thecolab.last_verified: "2026-09-12"
  thecolab.health: "healthy"
  thecolab.maintainer: "@adam91holt"
---

# Elections NZ

Use the read-only Python CLI to retrieve and filter records exposed by the official first-party source.
Every command supports `--json`, bounded requests, stable exit codes, source URLs and retrieval timestamps.

## Commands

```bash
# discover election results
python3 scripts/cli.py results --year VALUE --json
# discover electorate results
python3 scripts/cli.py electorate NAME --year VALUE --json
# discover party-vote results
python3 scripts/cli.py party-vote --year VALUE --json
# discover turnout series
python3 scripts/cli.py turnout --year VALUE --json
# discover candidate results
python3 scripts/cli.py candidate NAME --year VALUE --json
# discover party donation returns
python3 scripts/cli.py donations --party VALUE --json
# discover candidate expense returns
python3 scripts/cli.py expenses --candidate VALUE --json
# query Commission-published annual donation/loan aggregates (optional party filter)
python3 scripts/cli.py finance-aggregates [PARTY] --kind annual --year 2025 --json
# query Commission-published election-expense aggregates
python3 scripts/cli.py finance-aggregates [PARTY] --kind expenses --year 2023 --json
# retrieve exact source-wording rules (optional topic filter)
python3 scripts/cli.py finance-rules [TOPIC] --kind annual --year 2025 --json
```

Add `--limit N` (1–100) to bound any command. Human output is the default.

## Coverage and interpretation

- Only Electoral Commission outcomes are authoritative.
- Preserve preliminary versus official status and publication date.
- Finance aggregates retain reporting period, metric and missing-value context. Donation, loan, expense, expense-limit and broadcasting metrics remain distinct.
- Reporting rules preserve source wording and mentioned amounts. Unknown effective dates stay unknown; this output is not legal advice.
- Finance aggregation uses only the Commission's published party-summary tables. It never extracts donor/contributor names, addresses or donor-level records, and never recomputes totals from detailed schedules.
- Do not derive voter-level profiles or political persuasion.

Result commands parse the Commission's published CSV tables. Existing `donations` and `expenses` commands continue to return matching first-party return documents. `finance-aggregates` returns structured party-summary facts; `finance-rules` returns scoped official wording. A valid unmatched filter is an empty success, while source-layout or amount drift fails explicitly.

## Resources

- `scripts/cli.py` — canonical command entrypoint
- `scripts/test_contract.py` — deterministic repository contract audit
- `scripts/test_finance.py` — aggregate-only, adversarial and CLI-state tests
- `scripts/smoke_test.py` — parser fixture and bounded live probe
- `tests/fixtures/overall-results.csv`, `turnout.csv`, `winning-candidates.csv`, `finance.html`, `finance-annual.html` and `finance-expenses.html` — scrubbed export-specific fixtures
- `references/source-notes.md` — feasibility, provenance and source limits