There’s a Referendum taking place at the same time as the 2011 General Election on 26th November.

The Referendum gives you the chance to have your say on the voting system we use to elect our Parliaments in the future.

It builds on the electoral referendum process that began back in 1992 and 1993 when New Zealanders chose the MMP voting system.
Holding the Referendum at the same time as the General Election makes it easy for you to take part.

What will I be asked?

There are two questions you will be asked. You can choose to answer both questions, or only the first one, or only the second one. You will be asked to tick the option you prefer.

• The first question asks whether you want to keep Mixed Member Proportional (MMP, which is the voting system we use at the moment) or whether you want to change to another voting system.
• The second question asks you which of four other voting systems you would choose if New Zealand decides to change from MMP. The four alternative voting systems you can choose from are called:
  • First Past the Post (FPP);
  • Preferential Voting (PV);
  • Single Transferable Vote (STV); and
  • Supplementary Member (SM).

You can find more information about MMP and the four alternative voting systems by clicking on the icons below.

• Mixed Member Proportional (MMP);
• First Past the Post (FPP);
• Preferential Voting (PV);
• Single Transferable Vote (STV);
• Supplementary Member (SM).

What will happen as a result?

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

The Electoral Referendum Act 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 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.

The 2011 Referendum on the Voting System is indicative. This means that nothing will change as a result of this Referendum alone.

(Source NZ Government)