On the Fence is back for the 2026 election, helping to support young people in turning out, getting involved and voting. Brought to you by Massey University’s Toi Ara Research Cluster, the website includes an interactive quiz to see where your personal beliefs align with Aotearoa’s political parties. Critic Te Ārohi caught up with Hanna Breurkes, Designer for Toi Ara, to learn more about the kaupapa.
If the name On the Fence seems vaguely familiar to you, it’s because it’s been around in past election cycles. Debuting all the way back in the 2014 election, but taking the 2023 vote off, it’s now back in full force. Political parties polling above one percent in polls were included in the website – with minor parties Greens, NZ First, ACT, Opportunity, and Te Pāti Māori joining the major parties Labour and National. So how does it even work? Luckily, if you have a pretty cooked attention span, it’s interactive and youth focused – so fear not if political pundits scare you a bit.
Hanna described On the Fence as being designed to be an “accessible entry point” into thinking about government and politics. So whether you’ve got a few politics papers under your belt, or tune out at political talk all together, it’s an even starting ground for everyone. The experts acknowledge it’s a hard world to get into – “We know that for a lot of young people and first time voters, it's quite hard to start learning these things,” Hanna said. But that’s where On the Fence comes in.
The website guides you through a series of questions, with a slider bar to drag across the screen to show how much you agree or disagree with a certain statement. This means that there’s no black and white answers, which is perfect if you’re indecisive, or if you feel conflicted about a particular issue. Hanna understands this from the design perspective: “You don't have to give a binary answer, because we understand that things are really complex sessions and you might not fully agree with one side or another.” Each question also corresponds to a certain topic, such as the environment or immigration, which you can also rank importance to align with the key issues you’re putting your vote toward.
On the Fence is all about the youth focus, so some “hot topics” of particular relevance to the 2026 election are included. Think move on orders, social media bans and capital gains taxes – huge issues that have dominated the news cycle for the last three years. This means prospective voters can get some guidance on how their beliefs align with the current political climate, keeping up to date with ever-changing policy.
The questions are freshly updated to reflect our rapidly changing country, with some questions staying the same from past elections, and other new ones getting included. A political science professor has also reviewed all the questions, adding reassurance everything is reflective of the current state of the nation. The youth focus is still paramount to the question design, though. Hanna added that organisations such as apolitical NGOs and Generation Vote “aided in us formulating the questions”. Hanna also added that “all the questions are based on core ideas of government responsibility, like tax and housing and transport.”
At the end of the quiz, an algorithm considers the weighting of your results, and key personal issues to show which parties aligned with your answer the most. There’s also information available to learn more about each of the parties if you’re keen to keep learning about the policies on offer. If data is your thing, there’s a question-by-question breakdown of how your answers to each question compares with that of the political parties. This is especially useful if you feel like you agree with a parties stance on some things, but not all.
The Toi Ara team have lovingly clocked Gen Z and made sure to include a shareable graphic at the end of the quiz. As you select what topics are of most importance to you, a mini New Zealand gets built, reflecting your personal vision for the country. This will look awesome on your Instagram story and be sure to capture the attention of all the politically active baddies.
So far this year, there’s been a great response to On the Fence. Hardly a surprise, when 73% of respondents in 2020 said the tool was useful in helping decide who to vote for. Hanna described that "students have been really engaged” with On the Fence, and really interested in what comes out in the wash. “Some of them are surprised by the results that they see, and some of them aren't.” You should go figure out where you stand.
Youth engagement is a particularly important issue on the minds of many in the political world, with just 62.1% of 18-24 year old Kiwis enrolled to vote as of the 30th of September. Hanna said that she hopes the tool “will see a lot more confident voters and young people” who feel empowered to make a voting decision that’s “informed by personal values, rather than maybe influenced by other people in their lives.”
So, who you vote for is up to you. But if you’re still On the Fence on who to vote for come November 7th, you know exactly which website to visit. Ensure to enrol to vote by the 25th of October.
Check out On the Fence at https://www.onthefence.co.nz/
