On Saturday, 17 September, New Zealanders went to the polls to vote in our three-yearly General Election.

The polls closed at 7pm and over the following five or six hours the advertisers were treated to an opportunity to pitch their wares to the nation during television and radio specials, on several channels, as the results were relayed by breathless presenters to a waiting public.

Just a second! Amid the hoop-la it’s easy to forget that, at the close of vote, the result had been firmly set, but was locked in boxes throughout the country. The so-called “race”, being manically pored over by the political analysts and excited presenters, was actually a commentary on the efficiency of the counting!

The “oohs” and “ahhs” as the results unfolded were, in fact, a slow-motion dissection of the counting skills exhibited by the various electorates. The small, conservative, rural electorates were counted first suggesting the National Party was romping home. After around three hours the totals from the larger, centre-left, urban centres tipped the balance in favour of the incumbent Labour and its allies. Hold the front page!

To their credit TV3 discussed this effect, but State-owned TVNZ’s coverage made it seem like the political mood of the country was changing before our very eyes!

Perhaps it’s the same thing that archaeologists find exciting about the painstaking uncovering of an ancient site. The thrill of a very slow chase but without the advertising dollar!

In the event the provisional result has been pretty much a tie between the major parties (both receiving around 40% of the vote), with their abilities to form workable coalitions with the smaller parties being the decider. That and the results of the around 218,000 special votes that will have been counted by 1 October. We shall wait and see!