The polls have closed, the votes are being counted and the future of the nation is in the balance.

National have a strong lead in early results, and may be able to govern with ACT if current trends continue.

With 20.2 percent of the votes counted, National has more than 40 percent of the party votes, while Labour is in the mid-20s.

ACT has 9.17 percent of the votes and NZ First has a little over 6 percent, which means National may be able to form a government without needing Winston Peters.

The Green Party has about 10 percent of the vote, but is leading in three electorate races in early results.

A Flourish data visualization

Follow all the latest news from Election Night 2023 with RNZ's live blog: