22 July 2002
Website Features Virtual Election Calculator
The Electoral Commission has designed a special “Virtual Election Result Calculator” on the electoral website, www.elections.org.nz that allows people to calculate the number of seats each political party can gain in the coming election based on the
range of figures entered by the person concerned.
Web surfers need simply type in the percentage of Party Votes or numbers of Party Votes they think each party will get
and the interactive site will calculate the make-up of the resulting Parliament using the Sainte-Laguë mathematical
formula used by the New Zealand electoral system to determine list seats.
The Commission says the calculator device, that can be found on the website under “Publications and Resources”, will be
useful for people wanting to know how the proportional voting system works as well as for pollsters and political
parties wanting to translate their research data into seat numbers in Parliament.
By clicking on the correct link people will also be able to see the detailed workings behind the result and access a
glossary that provides an explanation of many of the terms used.
The website also features several educational resources about the electoral system for students.
Ends