New Zealand Voters Choose / Reject Recreational Cannabis as Referendum results announced

The preliminary results for the cannabis and euthanasia referenda were released at 2pm today.

Recent polls had the "no" vote on legalising cannabis substantially ahead of the "yes" vote and proved correct as the preliminary results released by the Electoral Commission came in as 53.1% No to 46.1% Yes

For the preliminary result to be overturned it would require some 70% of the special votes to vote Yes which is unlikely to be the case.

The final results, which include the special votes, will be released on November 6.