electoral systems

Categories under electoral systems

Another MMP rort?

Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, May 4th, 2012 - 44 comments

The media are doing a good job investigating John Banks’ donation history.  The Police are presumably also doing theirs, and it seems clear that the matter must end up in Court and the issue of who is telling the truth will be decided by a judge. Some in the media have dismissed the question of any threat to National’s majority. Short-term maybe, long-term I’m not so sure.

Labour moving to the right?

Written By: - Date published: 11:09 am, March 18th, 2012 - 153 comments

Many commentators have interpreted David Shearer’s recent speech as signaling a “move to the right”. I think it’s too early to tell. But if it’s true, I think it’s good news for lefties…

Quick MMP review thoughts

Written By: - Date published: 8:49 am, February 15th, 2012 - 18 comments

Lower the threshold and reduce wasted vote; leave it at 2-3% to make it less likely multiple one-man bands hold balance of power. Stop winning an electorate being a route to getting list seats; eliminate most dirty deals. Let List MPs run in by-elections and people stand both in seats and on lists; banning these would result in undesirable tactics from parties.

Participate: MMP Review

Written By: - Date published: 1:40 pm, February 14th, 2012 - 18 comments

You may have noticed the ads about The Standard for the MMP Review that the Electoral Commission announced yesterday.

Now’s your chance to have your say on what MMP will look like in the future.

NRT: In defence of dual candidacy

Written By: - Date published: 10:47 am, December 15th, 2011 - 22 comments

Some people reckon that if you run as an electorate candidate and lose you shouldn’t be allowed to go in as a list MP. You’re ‘not wanted’. But that doesn’t make sense. Some electorate MPs won with 6,000-8,000 votes, while 19 list MPs won more votes than that in losing an electorate race. Besides, not all constituencies are geographic. NRT elaborates:

Carmel wins, Nats down 1, MMP to stay

Written By: - Date published: 2:16 pm, December 10th, 2011 - 196 comments

Official Election results are out. Carmel Sepuloni takes Waitakere back for Labour by 11 votes, and National loses one seat to the Greens. MMP wins by a mile. Well done Carmel – I’m really glad she stays in Parliament. I don’t think a recount will change anything – I scrutineered the official count last election and the people doing it were very very careful.

Vote for MMP, anything else is just crazy

Written By: - Date published: 6:51 am, November 24th, 2011 - 40 comments

I see that the Nats in drag anti-MMP campaign have brought space on our banner. Now I know the mood of the authors on this subject.  They’d like MMP with tweaks – which will happen in 2014.

I looked at the anti’s pathetic ad, and decided that it was more effective to take their money, counter it (like the Standards enhanced logo?) and comment on it.

Mood of the Boardroom distinctly undemocratic

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, November 18th, 2011 - 15 comments

The Herald reports CEOs are moaning that MMP won’t let them ram through unpopular policies. I can’t think of a better reason to vote MMP.

Keep calm and vote MMP

Written By: - Date published: 9:12 am, November 6th, 2011 - 17 comments

Campaign for MMP has recently started selling T-shirts as part of their campaign fundraising.

Their “Keep Calm and Vote MMP” T-shirts are a very reasonably priced $40 and come in a stylish black.

Keep MMP Launch

Written By: - Date published: 4:27 pm, October 26th, 2011 - 3 comments

Keep MMP are having their campaign launch in Auckland this Friday.

Launch in the morning at Wynyard Quarter; Party in the evening on K Rd.

Get along, have fun, and show your support. Make sure all our votes count.

If Epsom & Ohariu were Northland & Te Tai Tonga…

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, October 26th, 2011 - 29 comments

Just why is it that the anti-MMP crowd only complain about small parties having too much power when those parties are the Greens?

Queen of Thorns has a few thoughts on the matter…

Debate on the electoral system

Written By: - Date published: 12:45 pm, October 20th, 2011 - 2 comments

RNZ’s Insight is hosting a debate on the Electoral System Referendum in Wellington.  It’s an excellent panel.  If you want to be part of the audience, get along to Te Papa’s Sounding’s Theatre at 6pm next Wednesday, October 26.

FPP: A man’s world

Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, September 19th, 2011 - 32 comments

The Campaign for MMP has a series of vids that we’ll be running. This one looks at how MMP has lifted the representation of women in Parliament. Makes you wonder about the people who want to send us backwards. By the by, due the paucity of women on National and ACT’s lists, the next Parliament is likely be to be first since 1978 to see the number of women decrease.

NRT on MMP threshold

Written By: - Date published: 12:11 pm, July 29th, 2011 - 49 comments

I/S at No Right Turn looks at the arguments for lowering the MMP threshold instead, or as a trade off for, getting rid of the ‘win an electorate, win list MPs’ rule. The conservatives say that a low threshold would mean more parties and ‘instability’. I/S shows that’s not only mathematically false, it’s not a reason to deny people democratic representation.

Epsom & marginal deals

Written By: - Date published: 7:25 am, July 22nd, 2011 - 65 comments

What to make of Epsom? I haven’t so far had a strong opinion on the topic, but I’m starting to come down on the side of “if you can’t beat them, join them”.

Vote for change ad competition

Written By: - Date published: 9:33 am, July 8th, 2011 - 19 comments

Vote for Change, Peter Shirtcliffe’s anti-MMP vehicle a grassroots movement discussing the need for change in the electoral system, has launched an ad competition for their movement. There’s $10,000 in prizes. I guess they raised the money from cake stalls. We encourage to submit your entries to VfC, and send them to us too!

Vote for Change stumbles at the startline

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, July 5th, 2011 - 10 comments

Peter Shirtcliffe’s Vote for Change is reeling. On Sunday, they had to boot out Alex Fogerty after the Young Nat’s neo-Nazi affiliations were made public. Yesterday, they lost their token Leftie, Bob Harvey, when he realised that being used by a collection of capitalist elitists and white supremacists wasn’t the legacy he wanted.

Vote for Change’s heart of darkness

Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, July 4th, 2011 - 52 comments

Peter Shirtcliffe’s Anti-MMP Vote For Change group has just 16 members and one of them has turned out to be a neo-Nazi. Is it a case of being so short of mates they’ll accept anyone who turns up, or does this give us a truer picture of who really wants to get rid of MMP? The latter, I think.

Anti-MMP group white supremacist link

Written By: - Date published: 8:39 am, July 4th, 2011 - 60 comments

A good piece of detective work at TUMEKE! has revealed that a founding member of the anti-MMP group “Vote for Change”, one Alex Fogerty, is a white supremacist.  Labour Party candidate for Dunedin North, David Clark, notes an interesting entry on Fogerty’s friend list…

Bait and Switch – to SM

Written By: - Date published: 8:27 pm, June 29th, 2011 - 69 comments

Good piece in today’s Herald by John Armstrong focussing on Vote for Change declaring that they are not in favour of any particular form of electoral system at this stage. He doesn’t find it believable, and nor do I. His take is that “Vote for Change looks very much like the National Party Preservation Society in drag.” I agree. I think they have a classic bait and switch strategy, it involves Key, and we should not take it lightly.

MMP rules, FPP/SM drools

Written By: - Date published: 12:32 pm, June 29th, 2011 - 49 comments

Times that the Government had the support of the majority of voters under FPP from formation of Reform (beginning on multi-party system) in 1911: 7 out of 27 (26%)

Times that the Government has had the support of the majority of voters under MMP: 4 out of 5 (80%)

Vote for Change Incorporated

Written By: - Date published: 9:32 pm, June 28th, 2011 - 25 comments

By its own admission, Vote for Change is anti MMP. Its website homepage has “More Accountability” as its first principle. It is also an Incorporated Society. So I had a look at its rules – you can find them on the Societies website. It seems more like the Politburo to me. Not a good look for a group supposedly promoting better democracy.

(Another) Tory astroturf fail

Written By: - Date published: 8:48 pm, June 28th, 2011 - 42 comments

The latest anti-MMP outfit is already unraveling with Pundit’s Rob Salmond uncovering the fact it’s basically the Peter Shirtcliffe club.

It’s a surprisingly clumsy effort. Especially given David Farrar provided strategic advice.

I guess he’s not learned any lessons from his previous PR fiascos…

Shirtcliffe’s anti-MMP campaign launches

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, June 28th, 2011 - 112 comments

Peter Shirtcliffe’s latest attempt to destroy MMP has finally launched. The man who spent a million dollars in 1993 is a shadow of his former self. Now, he and his cronies are so despised he can’t front the organisation himself, he’s got some kid doing it. And FPP/SM is so despised they won’t actually campaign for it overtly.

The Right’s MMP conundrum

Written By: - Date published: 9:04 am, May 31st, 2011 - 12 comments

If there is one silver lining to the cloud of a National government, it is that the MMP referendum has come up on their watch.  It rather cripples their attack lines.

Anti-MMP cabal rumbled

Written By: - Date published: 10:16 am, May 29th, 2011 - 64 comments

National Party pollster David Farrar is to be campaign strategist for an anti-MMP campaign. He’s joined by Nat ‘campaign manager for hire’ Simon Lusk who did the work on the Brash coup, and Jordan Williams a former Young Nat also involved in the Brash coup. I assume the campaign material will have National Party logos on it.

Conservative majority in Canada

Written By: - Date published: 5:16 pm, May 3rd, 2011 - 29 comments

Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have won majority government in the Canadian election with under 40% of the vote on a turnout of just over 58%. We will be able to get an idea of what a second term John Key government would be like as Harper is cut from the same cloth as Key and Cameron. […]

Campaign for MMP Quiz Night

Written By: - Date published: 3:48 pm, April 27th, 2011 - Comments Off on Campaign for MMP Quiz Night

Quiz Night. Food and prizes provided. Friday 13 May, 7pm.
Fickling Convention Centre, Auckland.

Interesting election May 2

Written By: - Date published: 1:05 pm, April 26th, 2011 - 9 comments

Canada will go to the polls on May 2. That election has just got a whole lot more interesting. The latest poll has the New Democrat Party at 28% and rising, while the Conservatives, Liberal and Greens are falling. Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper has led a minority government since 2008. The election was brought […]

Tizard not coming back

Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, April 3rd, 2011 - 66 comments

Judith Tizard won’t take Labour’s vacant seat in Parliament. It’s the right thing to do. It’s only a quirk that we should be looking back to a list written in 2008 to fill a seat for 6 months now. Tizard and the next four on the 2008 list aren’t on the 2011 list. Their lives have moved on. Better for the seat to go to someone with a Parliamentary future – Louisa Wall.

Friday Afternoon Fun: The Problem with FPP

Written By: - Date published: 4:58 pm, March 11th, 2011 - 25 comments

In the UK they have a referendum in May as to whether to keep First Past the Post, or move to Australian-style Preferential Voting (or as they call it “Alternative Vote”).  Here’s a quirky explanation of the problems with FPP using members of the animal kingdom.