Brief Information on the 2011 Voting Referendum: Issues for Maori
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Brief Information on the 2011 Referendum: Issues for Maori
Some points to consider when trying to decide which voting system is best:
- Will Maori be able to get elected in electorates, other than the Maori seats?
- What level of influence will Maori issues play in the way decisions get made by government? History tells us that unless Maori have leverage (either in numbers in parliament or holding a balance of power) then it is difficult to get traction on Maori issues.
- What if the Maori seats are not retained by future governments? Can Maori easily get elected on the general roll? Keep in mind that there have only ever been 10 Maori elected to general seats.
- Does the proposed voting system provide fair representation for the overall community?
| Electoral system | Explanation of Features | Numbers of Maori electorates |
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MMP
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This is the current system We have two votes:
70 Electorate seats 50 Party list seats
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7 electorates (depends on number on Maori roll). (10% of 70 electorate seats) |
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STV
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One vote either:
There are fewer electorates and each electorate is represented by more than one MP.
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Approx 4 multi-member Maori electorates, with a total of 12 Maori MPs (10% of 120 seats) |
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SM
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Two votes:
90 electorate seats (candidate with the most votes wins). 30 party/supplementary list seats Large parties can usually dominate alone and small parties (including Maori parties) would be less likely to be in government.
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9 electorates (10% of 90 electorate seats) |
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FPP
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One vote
The candidate with the most votes wins the electorate. The party with the most winning seats becomes the government.
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12 electorates (10% of 120 seats) |
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PV
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One vote
50% minimum needed for a candidate to get elected. Hard for smaller parties to get elected.
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12 electorates (10% of 120 seats) |
- Compiled by Dr Maria Bargh: [email protected].
- For more information see: http://www.elections.org.nz/elections/2011-referendum-on-the-voting-system.html
Interesting, “10 Maori elected to general seats”. that is still a high percentage of those that stood in elections. The problem is not how many have got in, it is with how many are standing in elections. Kaumatua need to start looking for and encouraging young people to get involved in politics, training them and giving guidance. Also if Maori seats did not exist then those people would be elected to general seats therefore there would be more than 10. also candidates need to not be to radical and aim to get some none Maori voters voting for them and this does not happen by constantly telling Pakeha how evil they are when they are not doing anything wrong (it was their ancestors). Also get more Maori voting.