New Zealand Voting System Advisory Referendum (2011)

A New Zealand Governmental Voting System Advisory Referendum was on the ballot for voters in New Zealand on November 26, 2011.

The referendum was non-binding. It asked two questions. The first question asked if voters wished to keep the existing mixed member proportional (MMP) voting system or enact a different voting system. The second question asked voters to choose an alternative voting system from among the following choices: first past the post, preferential voting, single transferable vote, or supplementary member.

Voters decided to keep the MMP voting system. First Past The Post received the plurality of the alternative system vote.

Support of MMP

Those in favor of the MMP system argued that it ensures a consensus approach in the government rather than putting all the power into the hands of one political party which gets the most votes at an election.

Opposition to MMP

The Prime Minister of the country, John Key, said that he voted against the current MMP system, stating that a coalition of four different political parties could still form a government even if the National Party obtained nearly half of all votes in the country.

Other Voting options

One of the other proposed systems was Preferential Voting, also known as instant-runoff or ranked-choice voting. This system would have made it so that all 120 members of Parliament would be elected from single-member constituencies and would need over 50 percent of the votes to be elected into the position. If no one candidate receives over 50 percent, then the candidate with the lowest amount of votes would be eliminated and their votes would then be distributed to the second option voters chose on their ballots. This process would continue until one candidate got over 50 percent of the votes.

Another proposed system was the Supplementary Member option. This system would have 90 of the Parliamentary members elected on a single-member basis and the other 30 members would be elected through voters choosing a political party they would like to hold the supplementary seats; then the 30 seats would be distributed on a proportional basis.

Another proposed voting system was the Single Transferable Vote. This system would divide the country into electoral districts and voters would rank their candidate choices. For a candidate to win, they would need to obtain a set amount of votes, as determined by a mathematical formula. If a candidate did not reach the quota, then the candidate with the lowest votes would be eliminated and their votes would be redistributed to the other candidates.

See also

• International Ballot Measures project

Additional reading

• Wanganui Chronicle, "Don't fall for a trick vote to retain MMP," November 23, 2011
• New Zealand Herald, "Referendum 2011: A look at preferential voting," November 2, 2011