New Zealand election first count ends with 2 main parties nearly deadlocked

New Zealand’s ruling centre-right National Party and main opposition Labour were nearly deadlocked in the popular vote after initial counting in the nationwide general election on Saturday.

Results from the Electoral Commission show that with more than 95 per cent of the ballots counted, both parties were polling just short of 30 per cent of the popular vote, with just a few thousand votes separating the two.

A projection from New Zealand’s Electoral Commission ‌showed the current three-party...