New Zealand elections

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New Zealand

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Members of New Zealand's House of Representatives, commonly called "Parliament", normally gain their seats in nationwide general elections, or (less frequently) in by-elections. General elections normally occur at least every three years in New Zealand, and operate using the Mixed Member Proportional electoral system. The Chief Electoral Office and the Electoral Commission co-ordinate the electoral system.

Contents

[edit] Overview of elections

[edit] Voting

New Zealand general elections occur when the Prime Minister requests a dissolution of Parliament and therefore a general election. Theoretically, this can happen at any time, although a convention exists whereby Prime Ministers do not call elections unless they have no reasonable alternative.

Elections always take place on a Saturday, so as to minimise work-commitments inhibiting people from voting. Voting (the casting of ballots) happens at various polling stations, generally established in schools, churches, or other such public places. The 2005 election made use of 6,094 such polling stations.

The voting process uses printed voting ballots, with voters marking their choices (one vote for a candidate and one vote for a party — see Electoral system of New Zealand) with an ink pen provided for their use. The voter then places the voting paper in a sealed ballot box. Voters can alternatively cast "special votes" if genuinely unable to attend a regular polling place (for example, if they have travelled overseas, or have impaired mobility).

[edit] Timing of elections

New Zealand elections generally occur every three years. Unlike many other countries, New Zealand has no fixed election date, but rather the timing of elections is determined by the Prime Minister. Convention dictates that an election should be held roughly three years after the previous election unless there is a major crisis or the Prime Minister loses the ability to command a majority in parliament. In the 1930s and 1940s two elections were delayed due to the Great Depression and World War II, respectively. These were the 1935 and 1943 elections, which would normally have been held in 1934 and 1941.

Early or 'snap' elections have occurred at least three times in New Zealand's history: in 1951, 1984 and 2002. Early elections are always controversial as they potentially give the government a major advantage. It is notable that two of the three snap elections (1951 and 2002) were also two of only three elections in which the government has been returned with an increased majority (the other was 1938). The 1984 snap election backfired on the government and is widely believed to have been called while the Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon, was drunk. See Snap election#New Zealand.

The Prime Minister's power to determine the election date can give the government more subtle advantages. For example, if they believe that a section of the population will either vote against them or not at all, they might hold the election in early spring, when the weather is likely to keep less committed voters away from the polls. The timing of important rugby matches is also taken into account, partly because a major match the same weekend of the election is likely to lower voting levels, and partly because it is widely believed that governments benefit when the All Blacks (the New Zealand national rugby team) win and suffer when they lose.

Tradition associates elections with November - give or take a few weeks. After disruptions to the 36-month cycle, Prime Ministers tend to strive to restore it to a November base. Barring crises, the next general election should occur before Saturday 15 November 2008.

[edit] Electoral roll

The electoral roll consists of a register of all eligible voters, organised alphabetically by surname within electorates. All persons who meet the requirements for voting must by law register on the electoral roll, even if they do not intend to vote. The roll records the name and address of all voters, although one can apply for "unpublished" status on the roll in special circumstances, such as when having one's details printed in the electoral roll could threaten one's personal safety.

[edit] Electorates

New Zealanders refer to voting districts as "electorates", or as "seats". New Zealand currently has sixty-nine electorates (including seven Māori electorates specially set up for people of Māori ethnicity or ancestry who choose to place themselves on a separate electoral roll). All electorates have roughly the same number of people in them — the Representation Commission periodically reviews and alters electorate boundaries to preserve this approximate balance. The number of people per electorate depends on the population of the South Island — this is the less populous of the country's two main islands and has sixteen guaranteed electorates, so the number of people per electorate equals the population of the South Island divided by sixteen. From this, the Commission determines the number of North Island and Māori seats, which may fluctuate accordingly.

The electorate seats are supplemented by fifty-one "list seats". These are filled from lists composed by political parties, and are used to make a party's share of seats in parliament reflect its share of the party vote. For example, if a party wins 20% of the party vote, but only ten electorate seats, it will be given fourteen list seats so that it has 20% of the 120 seats in parliament. (For further explanation see Electoral system of New Zealand.)

[edit] Vote-counting and announcement

Polling places close at 7.00pm on election day. The process of the counting of the votes by polling officials then begins. Results (at this stage provisional ones) go to a central office in the capital, Wellington, for announcement as they arrive. In recent years, a dedicated official website, "www.electionresults.govt.nz" has provided live election-result updates. Electoral officers generally complete the provisional counting of ordinary votes on the night of the election, but counting of special votes (see "Voting") can take longer, occasionally producing surprise upsets. The final results of the election become official when confirmed by the Chief Electoral Officer.

[edit] History of voting in New Zealand

Main article: History of voting in New Zealand

The first national elections in New Zealand took place in 1853, the year after the British government passed the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852. Of note is that New Zealand claims to have become the first country in the world to have granted women's suffrage, although the accuracy of this claim depends on the definitions used (see Women's suffrage).

[edit] Results

1853 | 1855 | 1860 | 1866 | 1871 | 1875 | 1879 | 1881 | 1884 | 1887 | 1890 | 1893 | 1896 | 1899 | 1902 | 1905 | 1908 | 1911 | 1914 | 1919 | 1922 | 1925 | 1928 | 1931 | 1935 | 1938 | 1943 | 1946 | 1949 | 1951 | 1954 | 1957 | 1960 | 1963 | 1966 | 1969 | 1972 | 1975 | 1978 | 1981 | 1984 | 1987 | 1990 | 1993 | 1996 | 1999 | 2002 | 2005 | 2008
New Zealand referendums Flag of New Zealand
Alcohol licensing, 1896-1987 | Gambling, 1949 | Military training, 1949 | Pub closing time and alcohol licensing, 1949 | Pub closing time and parliamentary term, 1967 | Parliamentary term, 1990 | Voting method, 1992 | Voting method, 1993 | Firefighters, 1995 | Pensions, 1997 | Justice and MP reduction, 1999


[edit] General elections

The following table lists all previous general elections in New Zealand (note that elections for Māori seats initially took place at different times from elections for general seats). The table displays the dates of the elections, the officially recorded voter turnout, and the number of seats in Parliament at the time. On the right the table shows the number of seats won by the four most significant parties in New Zealand's history (the Liberal Party and the Reform Party, which later merged to form the National Party, and the Labour Party), as well as the number won by other candidates (either independents or members of smaller political parties).

Term Election Date(s) Official turnout Total seats Liberal Reform Labour Others Indep.
United
National
1st 1853 election 4 July–1 October No record 37 - - - - 37
2nd 1855 election 28 October–28 December No record 37 - - - - 37
3rd 1860-1861 election 12 December–28 March No record 53 - - - - 53
4th 1866 election 12 February–6 April No record 70 - - - - 70
5th 1871 election 14 January–23 February No record 78 - - - - 78
6th 1875-1876 election 30 December–28 March No record 88 - - - - 88
7th 1879 election 28 August–15 September 66.5% 88 - - - - 88
8th 1881 election 9 December 66.5% 95 - - - - 95
9th 1884 election 22 June 60.6% 95 - - - - 95
10th 1887 election 26 September 67.1% 95 - - - - 95
11th 1890 election 5 December 80.4% 74 - - - - 74
12th 1893 election 28 November 75.3% 74 51 - - - 23
13th 1896 election 4 December 76.1% 74 39 - - - 35
14th 1899 election 6 December 77.6% 74 49 - - - 25
15th 1902 election 25 November 76.7% 80 47 - - - 33
16th 1905 election 6 December 83.3% 80 58 - - - 22 -
Second Ballot period
17th 1908 election 17 November, 24 November, 1 December 79.8% 80 50 - - 1 29
18th 1911 election 7 December, 14 December 83.5% 80 33 37 - 4 6 -
Return to FPP
19th 1914 election 10 December 84.7% 80 33 41 - 5 1
20th 1919 election 17 December 80.5% 80 21 47 8 - 4
21st 1922 election 7 December 88.7% 80 22 37 17 - 4
22nd 1925 election 4 November 90.9% 80 11 55 12 - 2
23rd 1928 election 14 November 88.1% 80 27 27 19 1 6
24th 1931 election 2 December 83.3% 80 19* 28* 24 1 8
25th 1935 election 27 November 90.8% 80 7* 9* 53 4 7
26th 1938 election 15 October 92.9% 80 25 53 - 2
27th 1943 election 25 September 82.8% 80 34 45 - 1
28th 1946 election 24 November 93.5% 80 38 42 - -
29th 1949 election 30 November 93.5% 80 46 34 - -
30th 1951 election 27 December 89.1% 80 50 30 - -
31st 1954 election 13 November 91.4% 80 45 35 - -
32nd 1957 election 30 November 92.9% 80 39 41 - -
33rd 1960 election 26 November 89.8% 80 46 34 - -
34th 1963 election 30 November 89.6% 80 45 35 - -
35th 1966 election 26 November 86.0% 80 44 35 1 -
36th 1969 election 26 November 88.9% 84 45 39 - -
37th 1972 election 25 November 89.1% 87 32 55 - -
38th 1975 election 29 November 82.5% 87 55 32 - -
39th 1978 election 25 November 69.2%** 92 51 40 1 -
40th 1981 election 28 November 91.4% 92 47 43 2 -
41st 1984 election 14 July 93.7% 95 37 56 2 -
42nd 1987 election 15 August 89.1% 97 40 57 - -
43rd 1990 election 27 October 85.2% 97 67 29 1 -
44th 1993 election 6 November 85.2% 99 50 45 4 -
MMP era
45th 1996 election 12 October 88.3% 120 44 37 39 -
46th 1999 election 27 November 84.1% 120 39 49 32 -
47th 2002 election 27 July 77.0% 120 27 52 41 -
48th 2005 election 17 September 80.9% 121 48 50 23 -

* The United Party (a regrouping of the Liberals) and the Reform Party contested the 1931 and 1935 elections as a coalition, but did not formally merge as the National Party until 1936.
** Due to major problems with the enrolment process, the turnout of the 1978 election is generally considered to have been significantly higher than official figures indicate. See New Zealand general election, 1978.

[edit] By-elections

Further information: New Zealand by-elections

[edit] See also

[edit] External links


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