Kiwis aren't rushing to get to the voting booths, with the Electoral Commission revealing the numbers for the first day of polling.
The figures show 56,557 people had voted by the end of Monday - down significantly from 92,434 on the first day of voting in 2020.
The commission will be providing daily updates throughout the election.
It's unclear what is behind the major shift in numbers, but officials say the information is preliminary and could change.
Advance voting kicked off on Monday while overseas voting started last Wednesday.
National Party leader Christopher Luxon and his wife Amanda were two of those 56,557 people to have cast their votes.
The pair voted at Eastview Baptist Church and Community Centre in the Botany electorate, which Luxon represents.
But he didn't vote for himself.
"It was two ticks blue," he told media afterwards. "It was for a very good candidate called Paul Goldsmith and a very excellent party called the National Party, that will take New Zealand forward."
Luxon lives in the Epsom electorate. But as he is standing in Botany, his name isn't on the Epsom ballot paper. As he physically voted in the Botany electorate, he had to cast a special vote.
"As I came into politics, the reality was that my family is pretty settled," he said when asked why he lived in an electorate he doesn't represent.
As we barrel towards election day on October 14, Newshub will track the latest number of advance votes cast. These don't include overseas votes.
