Electoral Commission kept busy by submissions to MMP review
It’s only been running for four weeks, but already more than 2000 people have made submissions to the Electoral Commission’s MMP Review.
Chief Electoral Officer Robert Peden is delighted by the results so far. “It’s great to see so many people taking the opportunity to share their views,” he says. “We’ve received submissions from all over the country, and really appreciate the time and effort people are putting in.”
The majority of voters chose to keep MMP at last year’s referendum on the voting system, and now the Electoral Commission is carrying out a review of how MMP works. It will make recommendations to Parliament later in the year.
“You don’t need to be an expert to take part,” says Mr Peden, “and you can make your submission any way you want – online, via email or letter, or using our easy submission guide. Check our website www.mmpreview.org.nz or call our freephone 0800 36 76 56 to get all the information you’ll need.”
“All submissions received are published online at www.mmpreview.org.nz,” he says. “I encourage anyone who is thinking about making a submission to visit and see what other people are saying.”
The Electoral Referendum Act 2010 sets out the issues the Commission must consider in the review. These are—
- What thresholds parties should have to cross to qualify for an allocation of list seats in Parliament,
- Whether list MPs should be able to stand as candidates in a by-election,
- Whether a person should be able to stand as a candidate both for an electorate seat and on a party list,
- Whether voters or political parties should decide the order of candidates on a party list,
- What should happen when a party wins more electorate seats than it would be entitled to under its share of the party vote, and
- The effects of population growth on the ratio of electorate seats to list seats.
Parliament has excluded Māori representation and the number of Members of Parliament from the review.
“There are a number of issues that the Commission has to review, and some that we can’t”, says Mr Peden. “We can consider any aspect of the MMP voting system as long as it directly relates to the way MMP works.”
Submissions from people wishing to appear at a public hearing must be received by 5 April, and all submissions must be received by 31 May.