Tomorrow is election day. We'll have rolling coverage, yes, but also dogs

Live results and analysis are important. So are good boys and girls.

Tomorrow morning, an unnatural quiet will descend on New Zealand. Our curious election laws demand that no one says anything much political publicly on election day. There’s no political campaigning, advertising or news… unless it’s yesterday’s news, and then it’s fine to leave it plastered all over websites, obviously. The intention is reasonable – prevent voters being influenced or harangued as they head to the polls – but the reality is batshit crazy. Since October 26, when advance voting opened, more than 1.4 million people have cast their ballots, yes, even as debates went to air, politicians raged at each other, and hoardings covered every eligible patch of council grass. 

But look, the blackout will give us a chance to focus on what’s important, and any reasonable person would agree that is dogs. As is Spinoff tradition, we will dedicate Saturday’s blackout hours to bringing you pictures of dogs at polling booths. Well, actually, you need to bring us pictures of dogs at polling booths, so we can share them with the people of Aotearoa, who now more than ever deserve to gaze upon furry – or indeed hairy – good boys and girls. 

The thing is, though, when it comes to elections, everything can become a controversy, even dogs at polling booths. I wasn’t working at The Spinoff at the last election, but staff members who lived through it still talk of the nightmare of 2023. The rolling photos of dogs at polling booths were so popular that the team was quickly overwhelmed by pooch pics, and proud owners became annoyed when their dogs weren't featured in a timely enough manner. The dog blog ended up running for three days.

That's why, this year, we’ve made the difficult decision to solicit dog photos from Spinoff Members and Spinoff Members only. If you are one, you will receive an email this afternoon with details of how to submit pics (if you’re not a member yet, you can join here), and we’ll do our best to share as many as possible with the world. (No doubt big news organisations around the world will be watching how this goes closely: offering the privilege of sending photos of dogs is possibly a world-first in media membership models.) 

Come 7pm, of course, the dogs are out, the blackout lifts and we hope you’ll join us here on The Spinoff. We’ll have the results rolling in live, our journalists will be tapping at their keyboards in real time and sending video from where they’ll be stationed at political parties’ election night events across the motu. Editor-at-large Toby Manhire will have his abacus out, running the numbers and providing analysis. 

But that’s all still hours and hours away. If you haven’t voted yet and need help deciding what to do, please peruse our extensive campaign coverage. Why not start with our in-depth profiles of political party leaders, then watch our longform interviews with the leaders (well, most of them – Christopher Luxon didn’t front, nor did Rawiri Waititi) on At Large With Toby Manhire. 

Have a read about some of the politicians vying for your vote. Lyric Waiwiri-Smith has spent a lot of time at the pub over the past few months, meeting politicians for our One Candidate, One Pint series. 

What are other voters thinking? We’ve been meeting them and asking about their key concerns this election and who they will vote for in our Characters of the Campaign Trail series.

Have a listen to Gone By Lunchtime for political analysis and watch Now You Know for snappy videos that explain key election facts.

But wait, there’s more. You can find all our great election campaign reporting, opinion and analysis here.

Right, that should get you through to the other side of the blackout. See you (and your dogs) tomorrow.