Electoral system (New Zealand)

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Coat of Arms of New Zealand

The electoral system in New Zealand is based on the Mixed-Member Proportional Voting System ( MMP ), which was selected by New Zealand voters on November 6, 1993 with a majority of 53.9% of the votes cast in a binding referendum and on October 12, 1996 in the Election to the House of Representatives ( General Election ) was first used.

The electoral system today

The elections for the New Zealand House of Representatives , which has 120 seats, are held every three years. 71 representatives are directly elected via electoral districts ( electorates ) according to the majority voting principle and the remaining 49 seats are allocated to the candidates who were put on their electoral lists by the parties according to the voting shares of the parties. Compared to the electoral system for the German Bundestag, in which 50% of the seats are assigned via direct mandates and the other half via the country lists of the parties, the electoral system of New Zealand, with 59.2% directly assigned seats, places a slightly higher weighting on direct mandates.

16 of the 71 constituencies are on the South Island and 48 constituencies represent the North Island . The Māori have seven own constituencies, so-called Māori Electorates , which are spread over the entire country.

Ballot papers for the General Election

In order to be represented in parliament, parties have to overcome two hurdles. They must receive at least 5% of the votes cast or win at least one seat through a direct mandate from an electoral district. In the latter case, the proportion of votes below 5% is also counted in the distribution of seats. The distribution of the 120 parliamentary seats is based on the proportion of votes that the respective parties could unite. The seats are evaluated and distributed according to the Sainte-Laguë method .

If a party wins fewer direct mandates than it would be entitled to according to the result of the proportional representation, the seats count according to the party's share of the vote; if it wins more direct mandates than it would be entitled to according to the result of the proportional representation, the mandates won are evaluated and approved as so-called overhang mandates . This means that the number of parliamentary seats can be over 120 seats, depending on the number of overhang seats.

Each voter has to give two votes, one for a direct candidate and one vote for a party. The ballot paper is divided into two columns, see illustration. If several crosses are made in one column, the ballot paper is invalid.

Anyone who has reached the age of 18, has New Zealand citizenship or has the status of permanent resident (comparable to a settlement permit in Germany) is entitled to vote . People who have lived in New Zealand for more than a year and are not abroad for more than 12 months can also be elected. However, New Zealanders who have lived abroad for more than three years are denied the right to vote. Even people incarcerated in prison have in principle no longer been allowed to vote since 2010; before that, the exclusion only applied to inmates who had been sentenced for three years or more.

A prerequisite for eligible voters in New Zealand to be able to participate in an election is, however, to register for the election beforehand and to be entered on the electoral roll. You cannot vote in New Zealand without a registration called “ enrollment ”.

history

Electoral system

First elections were held in New Zealand in 1853. The provinces of New Ulster and New Munster , established with the New Zealand Constitution Act of 1846 , were to receive a first provincial government with their own rights. But before elections could be held, the two provinces were replaced by the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 by a division into six new provinces . Each province received a Superintendent and Provincial Council , which were directly elected for four years. On October 12, 1875, the provinces were abolished with the Abolition of Provinces Act .

With the first election to the House of Representatives were awarded for the entire colony, in which 37 seats as a direct mandate, which was in 1853 British electoral system adopted, which also referred to as " first past the post translated" (FPP) (mutatis mutandis: the first reaches the post ) is known. The electoral system was based on the principle of the simple majority, in which the candidates of the respective constituencies were elected, who could unite the simple majority of the votes cast. However, this system only applied to 12 of a total of 24 constituencies. In the other 12 constituencies, two or even three candidates could be elected.

In 1881, the Representation Act of 1881 increased the number of constituencies for Europeans to 91 and introduced the electoral system with only one candidate per constituency nationwide. But in 1889 they reverted to the previous system because minorities were not adequately represented. The 1881 system was reintroduced just four years later.

In 1908, the government under the Liberal Party with the Second Ballot Act 1908 changed the FPP system to the effect that if a candidate from a constituency could not get an absolute majority of the votes, a second ballot held a runoff between the two first-place winners had to become. This electoral system was used in the General Election in 1908 and 1911, but was abolished in 1913 and replaced by the FPP system.

The disadvantages of the FPP system, which gave preference to larger parties and created a two-party system in which one party constitutes the government and the other party the opposition, gave rise to discussions over the years. But attempts to swap the electoral system for the proportional representation system failed again and again.

Ultimately, the main reason for a change in public opinion was the increasing lack of representation of the will of the electorate in the 1970s and 1980s. In the General Election of 1978, the Labor Party received 40.4% of the vote, compared to the National Party with 39.8%. Despite the fact that Labor became the strongest party according to its share of the vote, the National Party achieved 11 more seats due to the direct mandates it won and was thus able to form the government. A similar disproportion arose in 1981. It was only after Labor was able to win the majority of direct mandates in 1984 that they could provide the government. Under Prime Minister David Lange , Labor then immediately tackled numerous reforms, including those of the electoral law.

On December 11, 1986, the Royal Commission on the Electoral System issued its opinion on changes to the New Zealand electoral system. As a result, a binding referendum was held in 1993 on whether or not New Zealand should introduce the Mixed Member Proportional Voting System (MMP). Around 53.9% of voters at the time spoke out in favor of the MMP system, with a turnout of 85.2%. This decided to introduce the MMP system and it was first used for election on October 12, 1996.

Suffrage

The first allowed suffrage in New Zealand was granted only to men 21 years of age and older in 1853 who owned property in their province of at least £ 50  or who rented an estate of £ 10 a year. Women were not allowed to vote and Māori were mostly unable to vote because, in the sense of the European way of thinking, they individually did not own any land, but their land belonged to the entire community.

In 1858 the franchise was extended to men who rented a house for at least £ 5 a year. This regulation took into account the growing proportion of city dwellers.

In 1862 the right to vote for gold prospectors in the gold fields of the Otago region followed . The Miners Franchise Act gave all prospectors the right to elect two representatives from the gold fields who had the right to prospect for at least three months. However, since the number of prospectors rose sharply due to the gold rush in Otago , the rule with the prospecting right was quickly changed to six months.

In 1867, all male Māori who were over 21 years of age were given the right to elect four candidates from among their number for the House of Representatives . In 1879 the right to vote was extended to all men over the age of 21 without any further conditions. In 1893 women with the same age limit were given the right to vote. New Zealand was the first country with a self-government where women can vote. In 1919 they were given the right to stand as a candidate and could thus be elected to the House of Representatives .

In 1969 the voting age was lowered to 20 years, and in 1974 again to 18 years.

The rule in New Zealand has always been that only those who have the right to vote may vote if they have previously registered for their constituency.

2011 referendum

On November 26, 2011, the New Zealand electoral system was voted on. The questions were up for vote:

  • Should New Zealand keep the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting system?
  • If New Zealand switched to a different electoral system, which electoral system would they choose?
    • First Past the Post (FPP) - (one candidate per constituency with a simple majority)
    • Preferential Voting (PV) - (Preferred Choice)
    • Single Transferable Vote (STV) - (individually transferable vote)
    • Supplementary Member (SM) - (Additional member)
    • Informal Votes - (An informal vote is when the voter has not been able to make a clear decision on one of the above options)

With a turnout of 74.2%, 56.17% of those eligible to vote voted for the MMP voting system to be retained. In response to the second question, 31.19% opted for the First Past the Post voting system, 8.34% for the Preferential Voting System , 11.19% for the Single Transferable Vote System and 16.14% for the Supplementary Member System. 33.14% did not make a clear decision on the ballot and were therefore considered to be an invalid vote.

literature

  • Therese Arseneau, Nigel S. Roberts : The MMP Electoral System . In: Janine Hayward (Ed.): New Zealand Government and Politics . 6th edition. Oxford University Press , Melbourne 2015, ISBN 978-0-19-558525-4 , Chapter 5.1, pp. 275-286 (English).
  • New Zealand Government (Ed.): Report of the Royal Commission on the Electoral System . Towards a better democracy . Wellington December 1986 (English, Online HTML [accessed July 17, 2015]).
    • Department of Justice : The Electoral Law of New Zealand . A brief history . In: Report of the Royal Commission on the Electoral System . December 1986, Appendix A, pp. A-1 - A-105 (English, online PDF 3.59 MB [accessed on July 17, 2015]).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Referenda . Electoral Commission New Zealand , October 20, 2014, accessed July 17, 2015 .
  2. ↑ About the 1996 NZES . New Zealand Election Study , accessed July 17, 2015 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e Parliamentary Voting Systems in New Zealand and the Referendum on MMP . New Zealand Parliament , November 10, 2011, accessed July 17, 2015 .
  4. ^ A b Arseneau, Roberts : The MMP Electoral System . In: New Zealand Government and Politics . 2015, p.  275 .
  5. ^ Arseneau, Roberts : The MMP Electoral System . In: New Zealand Government and Politics . 2015, p.  276 .
  6. ^ Arseneau, Roberts : The MMP Electoral System . In: New Zealand Government and Politics . 2015, p.  278 .
  7. ↑ a b Who can and can't enrol? . Electoral Commission New Zealand , November 24, 2014, accessed July 17, 2015 .
  8. ^ Prisoners and the Right to Vote . NZ Council for Civil Liberties , March 24, 2011, accessed July 17, 2015 .
  9. ^ The Electoral Law of New Zealand . In: Report of the Royal Commission on the Electoral System . 1986, p.  A-8 f .
  10. ^ New Zealand's Nine Provinces (1853-76) . (PDF 22 kB) Friends of the Hocken Collections , March 2000, accessed on July 17, 2015 (English, Bulletin Number: 31 ).
  11. ↑ General elections 1853-2014 - dates and turnout . Electoral Commission New Zealand , October 21, 2014, accessed July 17, 2015 .
  12. ^ The Electoral Law of New Zealand . In: Report of the Royal Commission on the Electoral System . 1986, p.  A-39 .
  13. ^ The road to MMP - First past the post . In: New Zealand History . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , December 20, 2012, accessed July 17, 2015 .
  14. ↑ General elections 1890-1993 . Electoral Commission New Zealand , September 9, 2013, accessed July 17, 2015 .
  15. ^ The Electoral Law of New Zealand . In: Report of the Royal Commission on the Electoral System . 1986, p.  A-14 .
  16. ^ The Electoral Law of New Zealand . In: Report of the Royal Commission on the Electoral System . 1986, p.  A-21 .
  17. ^ The Electoral Law of New Zealand . In: Report of the Royal Commission on the Electoral System . 1986, p.  A-25 .
  18. ↑ a b Political and constitutional timeline . In: New Zealand History . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , July 9, 2015, accessed July 19, 2015 .
  19. ^ Results of the referendum . Electoral Commission New Zealand , January 29, 2013, accessed July 18, 2015 .