Some people have a countdown until Christmas. I’m crossing off the days on the calendar until it reaches the 7th of November: Election Day.
Whether you’re anxiously watching the votes get counted, you’re actively avoiding any mention of politics, or you have no idea how to even wrap your head around the election, it’s important to understand what the proportions of votes will mean.
In New Zealand, we use a system of voting known as MMP. This stands for mixed-member proportional. This means that the percentage of votes a party receives above 5% equates to the percentage of seats they have in parliament. If a party receives 30% of the party vote, members of that party will make up 30% of Members of Parliament (MPs).
Every New Zealander above the age of 18 gets two votes. One vote decides what candidate will represent the electorate the voter lives in, while the other determines the percentage of votes the entire part receives. When choosing your party vote, you are effectively choosing what party you want to be a part of the next government.
A party needs 50% of the vote to form a government. Because voters can choose between a variety of parties, not just two, this often does not happen. Under MMP, governments can form coalitions. Say Labour gets 35% of the vote, Greens get 10% of the vote, and Te Pāti Māori gets 5% of the vote – together, the parties make up 50% of the vote and can form a government.
There are no formal restrictions as to what parties can form governments together, but a pattern tends to be followed. I don’t think anyone’s expecting the Greens and National to form a government any time soon.
New Zealand First has historically flip-flopped between National and Labour – in 2017, the party formed a government with Labour, only to jump ship to National in 2023. Right now, the policies of New Zealand First don’t exactly gel with Labour and Greens, but over the past few months Winston Peters has been going through his early-eighties emo phase and straining New Zealand First’s relationship with National, so who knows what will happen this election.
Rather than coalitions, parties can also form “confidence and supply” agreements, which is kind of like saying “team” in a game of tag. While the parties have not officially formed a government together, they agree to support each other on incoming laws. This happened in the 2017 election, when New Zealand First formed a government with Labour and the Greens just wanted to be included.
While the party vote typically determines what type of government is formed, the electorate vote is still important in how it ensures different communities in New Zealand are represented. Some electorates are consistently won by members of a single party, while others, like Hamilton East and Hamilton West, change from election to election. Electorates are made up of populations of around 70,000 people, and there are 71 electorates in New Zealand. 64 are general electorates, while 7 are Māori electorates, populated by people enrolled to vote on the Māori roll. When a party wins any percentage of the party vote, their seats are first filled up with the electorate seats won by party members. The remainder of seats are filled by members of the party list.
MMP is a complicated system, and it’s by no means perfect. That being said, understanding how it works can help you make informed decisions when it’s time to cast your vote in November.
