In New Zealand, a special vote or special declaration vote is a vote made by an elector who is unable to cast an ordinary vote because they are unable to visit a polling place in their own electorate or because they are not on the electoral roll. Special votes can be made by anyone who:

• Is outside of their electorate, and the polling booth is not equipped to take ordinary votes for their electorate.
• Enrolled to vote after Writ Day (31 days before election day).
• Is not on the printed electoral roll they believe they should be.
• Is on the unpublished roll.
• Is ill or infirm and cannot get to a polling place.
• Is a prisoner on remand.
• Can satisfy the returning officer that going to a polling place would cause hardship or serious inconvenience.
• Is in the hospital.
• Is overseas.

Special votes can be cast at any polling place, and special polling places are set up in hospitals, maternity homes, and rest homes on election day. Voters who are overseas or otherwise unable to vote on election day and do not have access to a hospital polling place can vote by mail.

After all voting places have reported in and all checks have been conducted, preliminary results are published, which do not include special votes. Special votes are only added to the official count once they have been checked to ensure that the voter is enrolled and eligible to vote. The wait for special votes to be counted has occasionally added drama to tight electoral or referendum contests.