MEDIA ADVISORY
Thursday 29 June 2011
Electoral Commission
Te Kaitiaki Take Kōwhiri
2011 Referendum on the Voting System
Points of clarification

Some recent media coverage of this year’s Referendum on the Voting System has inaccurately reported important details about the questions on the voting paper and what will happen as a result of the Referendum.

These details are material to public understanding of the Referendum and so we draw your attention to the following information.

Referendum questions

In the Referendum, voters will be asked two questions.
• The first question asks whether the voter wants to keep MMP or whether they want to change to another voting system.
• The second question asks which of four other voting systems the voter would choose if New Zealand decides to change from MMP.

Voters are able to vote in both questions, irrespective of how they vote in the first question. In fact voters can choose to answer both questions, only the first one or only the second one.

What will happen as a result of the Referendum?

If at least half of voters opt to keep MMP, there will be an independent review of MMP in 2012 to recommend changes that should be made to the way it works. The Electoral Commission will conduct the review, incorporating a consultation process which will give the public adequate time and opportunity to give their views.

The Electoral Referendum Act (2010) specifies that the Electoral Commission must review:

• The 5 percent party vote threshold for a party to be eligible for allocation of list seats
• The one electorate seat threshold for a party to be eligible for allocation of list seats
• The effects of population change on the ratio of electorate seats to list seats
• The effect of a party’s candidates winning more seats than the party would be entitled as a result of the party vote
• The capacity of a person to be both a constituency candidate and a list candidate
• A party’s ability to determine the order of candidates on its party list and the inability of voters to rank list candidates in order of preference
• Other matters as referred to it by the Minister of Justice or the House of Representatives.

The size of Parliament and Maori representation will not be reviewed, but the Commission may consider any other aspects of the MMP voting system.

The Commission must report back to the Minister of Justice by 31 October 2012.

If more than half of the voters opt to change the voting system, Parliament will decide if there will be another Referendum in 2014 to choose between MMP and the alternative voting system that gets the most support in the second question in the 2011 Referendum.

You will find all the information you need about the Referendum and the voting systems at www.elections.org.nz or please contact the Electoral Commission directly.

ENDS

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