electoral systems
Categories under electoral systems
- First Past the Post (26)
- MMP (136)
- Single Transferable Vote (1)
- Supplementary Member (4)
Kiwis happy with MMP
Written By: - Date published: 10:29 am, January 14th, 2011 - 98 comments
The Right hates MMP. Back in the good old FPP days, about 20% of voters backed leftwing parties like Values, the Alliance, and Social Credit but got nearly no representation. National could govern alone with just 35% of the vote or fewer votes than the other major party. The Right was happy with that. So, they’ll be pissed Kiwis prefer MMP.
Democracy is bad at hard problems
Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, December 8th, 2010 - 72 comments
Democracy can be very bad at dealing with hard problems. Case in point, the Nats’ appalling handling of the issue of our ageing population. The Nats are stuck, so the country is stuck, rabbit in the headlights, while the size of the problem continues to grow…
Key and Shirtcliffe conspire against MMP
Written By: - Date published: 1:57 pm, September 26th, 2010 - 62 comments
Leaked notes from a meeting between Peter Shirtcliffe and Wayne Eagleson have revealed backroom dealings to kill off MMP.
We shouldn’t be surprised that the party of big business and the big-business-backed anti-MMP lobby would be colluding.
After all, it’s in all of their interests to take power from the voters and put it back in the hands of the elite.
Super City Picks
Written By: - Date published: 1:46 pm, September 26th, 2010 - 18 comments
Matt McCarten’s website for who to pick for a progressive Super City is finally up. If you’re in Auckland and haven’t voted yet – make sure to have a look.
Key’s clumsy opportunism
Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, September 22nd, 2010 - 41 comments
John Key has tried to use the ACT fiasco to take a clumsy swing at MMP.
I guess he reckons it’s just too hard to rip voters off when you have to chase a party vote.
A four year term?
Written By: - Date published: 12:09 pm, August 9th, 2010 - 46 comments
According to the Herald (which, helpfully, doesn’t provide any details) a new survey from the Business Council for Sustainable Development shows “strong support for extending the period between general elections.” Referenda in 1967 and 1990 strongly rejected a four-year term, has public opinion mysteriously shifted? Do you think four years is a good idea?
Fixing the election date
Written By: - Date published: 7:23 am, July 17th, 2010 - 10 comments
Pundit writer and legal academic Andrew Geddis has been doing some important work on electoral law, including contributions to the select committee that is looking at the 2011 referendum on MMP and the reform of campaign funding practices. You should head on over to Pundit and have a look.
Referendum vote count undemocratic
Written By: - Date published: 1:15 pm, June 8th, 2010 - 34 comments
The way the votes will be counted in the Government’s MMP Referendum Bill is highly unusual and in my view undemocratic. There will not be any independent scrutiny on election day of the votes cast or spoiled in the referendum. Independent scrutiny of the ballot in my view is essential part to retaining confidence in the democratic process.
Electoral Reform Needs Fixing
Written By: - Date published: 8:31 am, June 5th, 2010 - 5 comments
Two Electoral Reform bills are currently accepting submissions, and each contain one particularly large flaw. Firstly, as I commented on the Electoral (Finance Reform and Advance Voting) Amendment Bill: getting rid of the 3 month election period is a very dangerous move. National have now decided that the election period only starts on the day […]
Shirtcliffe can’t tell his electoral systems apart
Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, May 14th, 2010 - 13 comments
No Right Turn on the ignorance of the main campaigner wanting a change to our electoral system. You’d think that if you’re campaigning for something that you’d at least know what you are campaigning for. But apparently not.
Help the Campaign for MMP, they’re Internet illiterates
Written By: - Date published: 12:11 am, May 9th, 2010 - 53 comments
One thing that the election in Britain brought home to me, was how much I’m grateful for having Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) representation here. I didn’t start that way. Over time, I’ve grown to appreciate the gradual progress and stability offered by MMP. However the people at the Campaign for MMP could do with a little help in the Internet age. They’re operating like it was 1993.
Power pulls a swifty on electoral finance
Written By: - Date published: 9:52 pm, April 30th, 2010 - 25 comments
The Electoral Finance (Reform) Bill contains a major change from what had been previously indicated. The regulated period for limiting election expenditure could be as little as six weeks. This is effectively a 50% increase in the expenditure cap.
It looks like a swifty by Simon Power tilting the election playing field.
Voting ban for prisoners irrational
Written By: - Date published: 9:54 am, March 19th, 2010 - 146 comments
Paul Quinn’s Electoral (Disqualification of Convicted Prisoners) Amendment Bill appears to be unjustifiably inconsistent with the electoral rights affirmed by s 12 of the Bill of Rights Act.
That’s the view of Attorney General Chris Finlayson, whose National Party is supporting the bill to select committee regardless.
Poll good news for MMP
Written By: - Date published: 4:39 pm, February 25th, 2010 - 4 comments
No Right Turn covers the latest UMR poll on MMP, which shows a good but by no means unassailable lead for MMP over less representative systems.
With the forces of reaction once again emerging to undermine our democracy we all need to get in behind the Campaign for MMP.
MMP campaign heats up
Written By: - Date published: 12:39 pm, February 17th, 2010 - 30 comments
The business elite wants to drag us back to the days of unfair elections and weak democracy, when business interests held even more sway than now. We don’t want to return to those days. We want to keep the best electoral system in the world – MMP.
Colin James on Labour’s election record
Written By: - Date published: 11:05 am, February 1st, 2010 - 3 comments
Dancr linked to Colin James’ piece in the Press the other day, in which he writes: Here’s Labour’s record for the five decades years since the end of 1959: in government 19 years, out of government 31 years. Its best five decades were 1929-79, when it had 20 years in government, its worst just 12 […]
Key’s loose government
Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, November 16th, 2009 - 12 comments
Over the weekend r0b reckoned the shambles of the Key government would start to really hurt. I was sceptical. Winning the next election for the left is going to bloody hard. But Key’s cracks are showing. As the ever thoughtful Colin James noted in his Dom Post column this morning (currently offline): Too many distractions […]
Poll shows Kiwis prefer MMP
Written By: - Date published: 12:54 pm, November 12th, 2009 - 25 comments
NZPA reports on a new poll from UMR which shows Kiwis don’t want to dump MMP for a less proportional electoral system. The survey used the proposed wording of the referendum and found 48 percent in favour of keeping MMP and only 40 percent in favour of changing the system. Interestingly, when people were told […]
Why National really hates proportional electoral systems
Written By: - Date published: 2:22 pm, November 5th, 2009 - 25 comments
These data, taken from the Elections NZ site, show election results since National’s inception up until the last First Past the Post (FPP) election in 1993. I think they show fairly clearly why National is so keen to dump our proportional electoral system in favour of FPP or its drag cousin Supplementary Member (SM), which […]
MMP strengthening our democracy
Written By: - Date published: 2:39 pm, October 27th, 2009 - 25 comments
As the assorted rich, white old men behind Peter Shirtcliffe start their campaign to dump MMP, it’s worth remembering that the diversity we see in Parliament today hasn’t always been the case. The graph above, which comes via No Right Turn, was released today in the Social Report 2009. It shows a major increase in […]
Labour Grasps Nettle: Nettles Usually Sting
Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, September 15th, 2009 - 29 comments
By Rob Salmond It sounds like Phil G did a great job at Labour’s conference setting out where the party should go from here. Unfortunately, his KISS message didn’t get to all attendees. Labour apparently now wants to propose modifications to MMP, including more electorate MPs, fewer list MPs, a lower threshold, and getting rid […]
The emerging consensus to keep MMP
Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, September 14th, 2009 - 18 comments
Unexpectedly, a consensus is emerging to keep MMP. A search of the Herald, Stuff and other sites shows that most editorial pages and political commentators are against changing systems, citing MMP as fair and a check on the unbridled power the largest party enjoyed under First Past the Post*. The only notable exception is Fran […]
Why Supplementary Member sucks
Written By: - Date published: 7:08 pm, September 9th, 2009 - 64 comments
National and the business elite led by former Telecom chairman Peter Shirtcliffe (who led the pro-FPP campaign back in the 1990s) want to replace MMP with a voting system called Supplementary Member. SM is kind of a halfway house between FPP and MMP. Rather than the total number of seats a party has in Parliament […]
Fran lets the plan slip
Written By: - Date published: 2:40 pm, September 9th, 2009 - 22 comments
Fran O’Sullivan has rather given the game away on the MMP referendum. Frog has explained it so well, I can’t do better than repost it: Holding a referendum on MMP was discussed at cabinet on Monday 31 August 2009. Yesterday Ms O’Sullivan informed Newstalk ZB drive time host Larry Williams of how this information was conveyed to […]
Thinking about a referendum on MMP
Written By: - Date published: 5:54 pm, May 10th, 2009 - 21 comments
There is an interesting paper by Mai Chen in NZ Lawyer Online about the pros and cons of the referendum on MMP that National has promised by 2011 – “Is the MMP referendum likely to result in electoral reform?” The current position is that MMP has managed to operate effectively in the NZ environment. Both […]
Russian oligarch urges dump MMP
Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, April 8th, 2009 - 43 comments
So, the Business Roundtable has resorted to calling in Russian oligarchs to aid their campaign against proportional represenation. Here’s what “Taranaki-born former Treasury economist-turned-Russian oligarch” Stephen Jennings had to say following last night’s Sir Ron Trotter address. MMP, he says, must go. We need political leaders who can lead and manage change. “They need to […]
Winner takes all (of us to the cleaners?)
Written By: - Date published: 10:56 am, May 18th, 2008 - 120 comments
The Sunday Star Times reports National is keen to have a referendum on MMP. As you would expect Peter Shirtcliffe has been involved in lobbying the Nats for this policy. It’s just as AYB predicted. I’m sure the advertising agencies will be rubbing their hands together in glee. I would imagine we’ll hear a lot […]
An emerging threat to MMP?
Written By: - Date published: 5:36 pm, January 24th, 2008 - 100 comments
After Brash and the extreme right were exposed in The Hollow Men the Nats changed their leader hoping for a fresh start. What’s becoming apparent is that National’s shady backers haven’t changed. The policy and the cash are coming from the same people they always have – people like Peter Shirtcliffe who’s evidently now helping […]
- Kiwi workers lose jobs as billion-dollar firm quietly shifts production to USA
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By mid-afternoon today 42,000 people gathered at the Parliamentary precinct and the surrounding streets, police say. ...5 days ago
- Political finance law reforms will reduce big money in politics, but will rich donors be the ultimat...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joo-Cheong Tham, Professor, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne Political funding in Australia has long been shrouded in secrecy. It is also dominated by large donations and unrestrained spending, courtesy of laissez-faire federal political finance laws. The Albanese government has ...5 days ago
- Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke reacts to haka heard around the world
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The capital turned into a sea of black, white and red today, as more than 42,000 people supporting te Hīkoi mō te tiriti overflowed Parliament's grounds and onto the streets. ...5 days ago
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- Could keeping native species as pets save them from extinction? Here’s why it’s not that simple
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By mid-afternoon today 42,000 people gathered at the Parliamentary precinct and the surrounding streets, police say. ...5 days ago
- Hīkoi day 9: 35,000 join as Treaty Principles Bill protest reaches Parliament
RNZ News More than 35,000 people today gathered as Aotearoa New Zealand’s Hīkoi mō te Tiriti overflowed from Parliament’s grounds and onto nearby streets in the capital Wellington Pōneke. Eru Kapa-Kingi told the crowd “Māori nation has been born” today and that “Te Tiriti is forever”. ACT leader David Seymour ...5 days ago
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- Livestream: Treaty Principles Bill hīkoi at Parliament
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