It could be weeks before the winner of New Zealand's general election emerges, with neither of the two major parties securing enough seats to form a government.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's centre-right National Party secured 42 seats in the country's parliament, while former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins' centre-left Labour Party won 36 seats.
The National Party, combined with its coalition partners AAT and NZ First, had a projected count of 67 seats, according to the NZ Electoral Commission.
Opposition parties Labour, the Greens and the Māori Party, together with the new force Opportunity — which has not yet said which side it will join in a coalition — combined for 63 seats.
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To control the New Zealand parliament, a party needs a majority of 61 seats out of the baseline 120 seats. However, under New Zealand's Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting system, the total number of seats can increase because of "overhang seats", changing the number needed for a majority. Voters can decide how many seats a party gets during the election.
In the current election, the majority needed to lead is 66 seats, according to the country's public broadcaster, Radio New Zealand (RNZ).
In the party vote, Labour had a majority with a small margin, with 29.36 per cent of the party vote and National securing 29.21 per cent, according to RNZ.
The Greens recorded their best-ever national vote, on 13.30 per cent, as did ACT, on 10.92 per cent, while NZ First was at 9.78 per cent and Opportunity at 5.96 per cent.
The results might also change when an estimated 700,000 'special votes' from out-of-electorate and overseas ballots — which typically favour the left — are added to the mix.
They will all be included on November 27, when the final results are released, meaning it might take weeks to understand who will be in charge of New Zealand's next government.
About 400,000 special votes are yet to be counted, with 96,000 from overseas.
Both parties said it would take time for the final results to be known.
The current New Zealand prime minister has not called the election yet.
"We have a pathway to forming the next government. It is too close to call," Luxon said at his National party's election night function just after midnight local time.
If he does secure another term, it will be without important figures in the election: Finance Minister Nicola Willis, Defence Minister Paul Goldsmith and Speaker Gerry Brownlee who all conceded their races, while Transport Minister Chris Bishop is also a likely loser.
On the other hand, Labour leader Chris Hipkins delivered a similar message.
"As things stand tonight, it's clear we're not going to know the exact shape of the next government for a little while longer yet," he said.
"When the final result is known, I'll have quite a bit more to say."
The results have followed weeks of election campaigns dominated by cost-of-living issues and the economy, with the country's unemployment rate at its highest in a decade.
The war in the Middle East and the resulting global fuel shock have been widely blamed for the damage to New Zealand's trade-dependent economy.
Support for Labour and National has fallen to historically low levels. Surveys suggest voters have lost faith in the major parties’ ability to revive the sluggish economy and make the changes needed to repair ageing infrastructure.
If the National-led coalition loses its majority at the official count, either it or a left-leaning coalition would require the support of the centrist Opportunity Party, which looks likely to enter parliament for the first time.
Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong said she would look to negotiate with the party that secured the largest number of seats after the official results.
"We made that call based on the fact that we need a majority of seats in parliament in order to form a government. So that is what we will stick to," she told public broadcaster TVNZ.
— With additional reporting by AAP and Reuters.
