- Today: Business committee meets this afternoon to agree a Parliament timetable
- September 6 : Parliament dissolves
- September 13: Writ Day, nominations close 18 September
- October 3: Advance voting begins, last day for return of the writ is 12 November
- October 17: Election day
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has delayed the election by a month to October 17.
At a press conference at the Beehive to announce the decision, Ardern said the re-emergence of Covid in the community was a cause for concern for the election period.
While the Electoral Commission said voting could safely happen under alert level 2 and there was no suggestion New Zealand would be in elevated alert levels on September 19 - the previous election date - Ardern said she also had to factor in participation of voters, fairness and certainty.
Ardern said she made the decision after consulting with the leaders of all parties in Parliament, but there would never be complete consensus.
The election date was the sole prerogative of the Prime Minister, but Ardern said these were "extraordinary circumstances", she said.
Pushing an election out by several months didn't mean disruption was less likely, said Ardern.
She considered retaining the current date, moving it until October 17 and November 21, and decided on October 17.
Ardern said the dissolution of Parliament would be delayed to September 6 and Parliament would reconvene tomorrow.
She pointed out that many countries had held elections while still tackling Covid-19 outbreaks.
Pushing an election out by several months didn't mean disruption was less likely, said Ardern.
She was advised October 17 was achievable and the Electoral Commission would be able to draw on some of the work they'd already done.
Having early voting start during the school holidays had the downside of some people moving around the country and impacting the Commission's workforce but meant there would be some additional facilities available.
Ardern said Covid was the "world's new normal" and gave the assurance she wouldn't change the election date again.
"Covid will be with us for some time to come. Continuously pushing out an election does not lessen the risk of disruption and this is why the Electoral Commission has planned for the possibility of holding an election where the country is at level 2, and with some parts at level 3.
"I have absolutely no intention at all to change from this point."
A Herald-Kantar poll this morning revealed 60% of New Zealanders did not think the election should still be held on September 19 - but opinions differed greatly between Auckland and the rest of New Zealand.
Ardern said she accepted a sense of anxiety, including from political parties, about the disruption to the start of the campaign period.
Ardern said she never considered a vote of no confidence was a threat because that would have triggered an election.
She said even if she didn't pick up the phone and talk to anyone, October 17 was her preference.
Asked what would happen if New Zealand went back into alert level 4, she said: "I'm not anticipating that at this stage. There is no evidence that that is where we would be."
Ardern said she considered what would maximise voter turn out.
Ardern said the referendums didn't impact her decisions.
She said there were "many, many knock-on effects", including electoral workers and candidates who'd taken leave without pay to campaign, but she believed New Zealanders deserved certainty.
Ardern said at no point during her discussions with political did she give any indication on her preference on date - including with her discussions with NZ First leader Winston Peters.
Labour won't launch their campaign again, said Ardern.
It will be up to individual political parties about whether they suspend their campaigns, she said.
Ardern is getting advice from Crown Law on spending caps for campaigning.
National, Act and NZ First had all called on Ardern to delay the election, saying the September date made it difficult for political parties to campaign, and that voters would be wary of voting.
Green Party co-leader James Shaw said "a change to the election day should occur because it is what is best to keep us safe and protect our democratic right to vote. We believe the date change to October 17 achieves that fine balance during a very challenging time."
Co-leader Marama Davidson said "we support the Prime Minister's decision to move the date to October 17. Those additional four weeks should provide time for the public health response to get on top of the current outbreak".
Peters welcomed the Prime Minister's decision.
"New Zealand First is pleased that common sense has prevailed. We were concerned that the Covid outbreak had the effect of limiting campaigns to an unacceptably short period until overseas and advance voting begin if the General Election was held on September 19.
"As I said yesterday, voters are sovereign. Holding an election during a COVID outbreak has the risk of serious interference in our democracy. Voters would be expected to exercise their electoral rights with a dearth of information and that is unacceptable.
"With a delay, parties can now prepare to begin campaigning again, confident that they have the time and resources to engage in a free and fair election.
"New Zealand First will now be looking at our campaign strategy to ensure that we can to get back out on the campaign trail as soon as safely possible."
Yesterday, there were 12 new cases in the community and one in managed isolation. All of the 49 active community cases could either be definitively traced to the Auckland cluster or were under investigation but considered likely to be connected.
Three people were being treated in hospital.
