17 November to 2 December 1908 1911 → 1906 1903 58 seats 16 seats Start date 1908 | Turnout 79.8% 1903 1908 16 seats 0 seats | |
 | ||
Winner Joseph Ward | ||
The New Zealand general election of 1908 was held on Tuesday, 17 November, 24 November and 1 December in the general electorates, and on Wednesday, 2 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 17th session of the New Zealand Parliament. A total number of 537,003 (79.8%) voters turned out to vote.
Contents
Changes to the electoral law
The Second Ballot Act 1908 provided for second or runoff ballots between the top two candidates where the top candidate did not get an absolute majority. The second ballot was held seven days after the first ballot except in ten large rural seats, where fourteen days were allowed. In 1908, 22 second ballots were held on 24 November and one (Bay of Plenty) on 1 December. At the 1911 election, all 30 second ballots were held seven days later. Two 1909 by-elections (in Rangitikei and Thames) also required second ballots.
The Second Ballot Act of 1908, which did not apply to the Maori electorates, was repealed in 1913.
Party totals
The following table gives party strengths and vote distribution.
Electorate results
The following are the results of the 1908 general election:
Key
Liberal Conservative Ind. Labour League Independent Liberal Liberal-Labour Independent
Table footnotes: