Former National and Act leader Don Brash has acknowledged his campaign advising voters to split their ballots is slightly inconsistent
while challenging National leader Christopher Luxon to a public debate. The strategy has triggered a political clash, an Electoral Commission probe, and an intervention by coalition partners.
Don Brash Defends Split-Vote Campaign Despite Contradiction
Former Reserve Bank Governor and political leader Don Brash has defended his controversial public push encouraging centre-right voters to split their ballots between the National Party and its coalition partners.
The campaign, which was placed by Reality Check Radio, tells voters to back their local National candidate with their electorate vote while directing their party vote to ACT or New Zealand First to engineer an overhang in Parliament.
The strategy immediately ran into friction when it was revealed that ACT leader David Seymour demanded that Brash’s campaign exempt two electorates—Epsom and Tāmaki—before ACT would grant permission for the advertisements to run under electoral rules.
Consequently, Brash published a separate personal message alongside his main ad, urging voters in those two electorates to support ACT candidates David Seymour and James Christmas instead of National.
Speaking to the press, Brash admitted the arrangement was contradictory.
I accept the fact that that is inconsistent. I don’t accept the argument that Luxon is making that the basic split-the-vote message is confusing.
Don Brash, former National and ACT leader, via NZ Herald
Christopher Luxon Calls Split-Vote Strategy Disappointing
National leader Christopher Luxon has pushed back aggressively against the third-party advertising campaign, describing the approval of the ads by his own coalition partners as disappointing
.
Campaigning across Auckland, Luxon warned voters that complicating their choices risks letting the opposition back into office.
A vote for any party other than National risks making Labour the biggest party on November 7 and opens up the door for them to form a Government.
Christopher Luxon, National Party leader, via NZ Herald and The Post
National has reason to monitor the polls closely. A 1News Verian poll tracking voter shifts found that National has lost support to nearly every other party in Parliament, with ACT capturing the largest share at 3.5%.
Analysts note that a successful vote-splitting campaign could leave National winning electorate seats while failing to secure enough party votes to bring list MPs like Nicola Willis and marginal seat contenders like Chris Bishop back into Parliament.
Seymour argued that a party vote for ACT adds to the coalition just as effectively as a party vote for National, while New Zealand First maintained that any group promoting its party vote helps secure a centre-right government.
Harry Mowbray Pulls Offline Website After Electoral Commission Probe
Parallel to Brash’s newspaper advertising campaign, businessman Harry Mowbray launched a dedicated website encouraging similar vote-splitting tactics. That online effort quickly drew scrutiny from regulators.
Labour Leader Chris Hipkins Responds to Right-Wing Divisions
Opposition parties have seized on the public divisions among the incumbent governing parties. Labour leader Chris Hipkins, campaigning in Dunedin, told supporters that the disagreements over advertising and strategy exposed total dysfunction and disarray on the right of the political spectrum.
Hipkins warned voters against what he termed a National hangover
strategy, urging them to cast two votes for Labour. With the election concluding on November 7, the friction between National, ACT, and New Zealand First over how voters cast their ballots highlights the underlying competition for centre-right dominance as the campaign enters its final days.
