New Zealanders vote ‘yes’ to euthanasia, ‘no’ to legalising cannabis

There are still about 480,000 special votes, such as overseas ballots, to be counted but these would have to favour legalising marijuana overwhelmingly in order to change the results.

The margin of victory for the “yes” vote for euthanasia is already too large to overturn even after all special votes are counted and the final results are released in a week.

Polling on the outcome of the referendums had predicted this outcome.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s spokesman told Stuff on Friday that she had voted yes in both. Ardern’s support for assisted dying was known but during the election campaign she repeatedly refused to say whether she would back legalising marijuana for recreational use.

Marijuana is already legal for medicinal purposes in New Zealand and that will not change as a result of the vote.

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