Why the review
In the 2011 Referendum on the Voting System, held in conjunction with the General Election on 26 November, the majority of voters chose to keep MMP as New Zealand's voting system.
This triggered an independent review of MMP, conducted by the Electoral Commission, in which all of us can have our say on any changes we’d like to see made to the way MMP works.
The review builds on the reforms to our electoral system that began in 1986 with the report of the Royal Commission on the Electoral System (Towards a Better Democracy) and the subsequent referenda in 1992 and 1993 where New Zealanders voted to change the way we vote, and chose MMP as the voting system.
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What is being reviewed?
The review must include a number of issues that have been decided by Parliament. These are—
- 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;
- 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;
- The capacity of a list MP to stand as a candidate in a by-election;
Two issues are not part of the MMP review. The size of Parliament and Māori representation will not be reviewed, but the Commission may consider any other aspects of the MMP voting system.
As well as the issues the Commission must review, other aspects of the MMP voting system can be considered as long as they relate directly to the way MMP works.
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How will it work?
The purpose of the review is to recommend changes to the way MMP works, and will give everybody the chance to have their say on changes they'd like to see made to the MMP voting system.
Public submissions are open until the end of May, and can be made online, by email,or by post. You can also present your submission in person at public hearings. There's even an easy submission guide to help.
Once all submissions are received, the Commission will develop a set of proposals. These will be released as a Proposal Paper in August, and the public will again be invited to comment.
A final report will be presented to the Minister of Justice on 31 October.
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Timetable for the review
Date What's Happening 13 February 2012 Consultation Paper released and call for submissions 5 April 2012 Deadline for submissions for those wanting to present in person to the Commission. Submissions must be lodged with the Commission by midnight on 5 April. 24 April - 18 May 2012 Presentation of submissions (public hearings) take place 31 May 2012 Deadline for all submissions June - July 2012 Consideration and development of possible proposals for changes to MMP voting system 13 August 2012 Proposal Paper released and call for submissions 7 September 2012 Submissions close on Proposal Paper 24 September 2012 Submissions and summary of submissions received on proposals available. 31 October 2012 Final report presented to Minister of Justice -
What will happen as a result?
The Commission must present a report to the Minister of Justice by 31 October 2012 with recommendations on whether any changes to MMP are necessary or desirable.
As soon as practicable after receiving the report, the Minister must present a copy of it to Parliament.
Parliament will decide what to do with the Commission’s recommendations.
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How do I have my say?
It's easy to make a submission. You can do it online, by email, or by post. Once you have made a submission you can also present it in person. All the information you'll need to is on this website, or call 0800 36 76 56 for information to be sent to you.