Election 2026: Police looking into Harry Mowbray's 'Split Your Vote' website

Police say they've received a referral from the Electoral Commision in relation to businessman Harry Mowbray's Split Your Vote website.

Detective Senior Sergeant Andrew Compton said they're now making enquiries and no further comment can be made at this stage.

National has recently pushed back against a right-wing strategic voting campaign calling for National supporters to give just their electorate vote to National, and their party vote to ACT or NZ First.

National confirmed late on Friday afternoon it had complained to the Electoral Commission about Mowbray's website.

Christopher Luxon said he wouldn't comment now it's before the police after the National Party complained about the website to the Electoral Commision.

Speaking to Midday Report on Friday, Mowbray said the MMP electoral system was a "complete dog".

He confirmed part of his strategy was to discredit MMP and "show people how bad it is".

A complaint was made about it, and Mowbray has made "an assumption" that it was the National Party, which has been publicly critical of vote-splitting, responsible.

National confirmed it was behind the complaint on Friday afternoon.

"This and similar campaigns are deliberate attempts to confuse voters in what is already a very close election, and we do not support them," a National Party spokesperson said.

"The reality is very simple. If you want a National government you need to make sure National is bigger than Labour. The only way to do that is to party vote National.

"This particular campaign did not comply with the election rules everyone has to operate under. We referred it to the Electoral Commission, but we doubt we were the only ones."

Mowbray said the letter he received from the Electoral Commission asked if he had got permission for the website content from the party secretaries of ACT and New Zealand First.

"They didn't ask if I had it from National so they obviously know the answer to that," he said.

The website was designed to give the centre-right a disproportionate number of seats to its party vote through the overhang, by telling people to give their candidate vote to National and their party vote to ACT or New Zealand First.

"It's working unbelievably. The number of people that I don't know and end up talking to and they say, 'we've heard about it and we're going to split our vote', or say they don't know what it means and then I spend five minutes explaining it, and they say 'oh we get it now'."

Mowbray says Te Pāti Māori "started it" when it comes to tinkering with MMP, "and I'm showing you how we can finish it".

He believes the current system is "completely undemocratic" in that the minor parties have a much stronger voice in Parliament than their party vote should allow.

Mowbray explained the process for setting up the website and what he believed to be allowed.

The Electoral Commission "told me I haven't had secretaries for ACT or New Zealand First give permission to promote", he said.

"I didn't realise having the website was going to get classified as a promotion, because it's in my name. You're allowed to say pretty much anything you like as an individual ... that's what I was doing."

Mowbray said he was asked by the Electoral Commission whether he paid for a domain name to set-up the website, which he did for the cost of $35.

"As soon as I pay for a domain name it becomes an advertisement. I'm allowed to spend $17,000 and I haven't done that yet."

He wasn't asked to take down the website but "if it's a problem then it's down".

The Electoral Commission told RNZ it was investigating the "advertising" and whether it was "authorised", and it wouldn't be appropriate to comment further at this stage.

Party messaging must come with an authentication statement, for transparency reasons.

Earlier last week, Mowbray said he'd been pushing the message that a centre-right government could "best be achieved" by vote splitting, "supporting the local National MP or candidate with their electorate vote but giving their party vote to NZ First or ACT as coalition partners".

"That gives their party vote some effect while giving the centre-right coalition a better chance of winning."

The complaint comes as the overhang strategy gains momentum, and National has responded in turn, with a video from former prime minister Sir John Key saying not to put the election to chance.

"It's a really close election," National leader Christopher Luxon said on Friday.

"It's going to come down to the wire. As I said yesterday, there'll be one or two points in it all."

He said if voters want National, they have to vote for it.

"In an MMP system, you party vote for it."