New Zealand electorates
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In New Zealand, an electorate is a voting district for Parliamentary elections. They are sometimes informally called seats. Historically, all Members of Parliament were directly chosen for office by the voters of an electorate. In 2008 under the MMP electoral system, 70 of the usually 120 seats in Parliament will be filled by electorate members, with the remainder being filled from party lists in order to achieve proportional representation (there were 69 electorate seats in 2005).
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[edit] Distribution
Originally, electorates were drawn up based on political and social links, with little consideration for differences in population. Each electorate was allocated a different number of MPs (up to three) in order to balance population differences, but this was only partly successful. Eventually, a new system was introduced — each electorate would elect one MP, and boundaries would be drawn based on population. However, a special country quota meant that rural seats were allowed to contain fewer people than urban seats, preserving an inequality (and over-representing farmers). The quota persisted until 1945.
Today, electorate boundaries are determined by the Representation Commission. The Commission consists of:
- Four government officials — the Government Statistician, the Surveyor-General, the Chief Electoral Officer, and the Chairperson of the Local Government Commission.
- A representative of the governing party or coalition, and a representative of the opposition block.
- A chairperson (often a judge) nominated by the other members, with the exception of Chairperson of the Local Government Commission.
Boundaries are reviewed after each New Zealand Census, which occurs every five years. The South Island is guaranteed to have 16 general seats, with the remainder of voters (North Island and Māori) being divided into electorates of the same population as the South Island ones. Electorates may vary by 5% of the average population size. This has led to the number of list seats in Parliament to decline as the population is experiencing 'northern drift' (i.e. the population of the North Island, especially around Auckland, is growing faster than that of the South Island).
In a continuation of 'northern drift', the North Island will get an extra electoral seat for the 2008 general election.[1] The need for an extra seat was determined from the results of the 2006 Census. The extra seat will bring the total number of electoral seats to 70, and reduce the number of list seats to 50.[1] Although the addition of another Maori seat was considered likely, their number will remain unchanged at seven.[1][2]
The Parliament elected in 2005 had an extra member, ie 121 rather than 120 members, an overhang caused by the Māori Party getting more electorate seats than they were entitled to for their proportion of the Party vote under MMP.
[edit] Special electorates
For the qualifications required to vote, which were gradually extended, see History of voting in New Zealand.
Over the years, there have been two types of "special" electorates created for a particular community. The first were special goldminers' electorates, created for the benefit of participants in the Otago Goldrush — goldminers did not usually meet the residency and property requirements in the electorate they were currently prospecting in, but were numerous enough to want political representation. These electorates, of which only two were created, did not last long (from 1863 to 1870).
Much more durable have been the Māori electorates, created in 1868 to give separate representation to Māori citizens. Although originally intended to be temporary, they came to function as reserved positions for Māori, ensuring that there would always be a Māori voice in Parliament. Until 1996 the number of Māori electorates was fixed at four, significantly under-representing Māori in Parliament. However the introduction of MMP allowed for the seat number to change with the numbers in the Māori population who choose to go on the Māori rather than the general roll.
[edit] Current electorates
[edit] General electorates
[edit] Māori electorates
| Electorate | MP | Party | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ikaroa-Rawhiti | Parekura Horomia | Labour | east-central North Island | |
| Tainui | Nanaia Mahuta | Labour | Waikato region | |
| Tamaki Makaurau | Pita Sharples | Māori | central and southern Auckland | |
| Te Tai Hauauru | Tariana Turia | Māori | western coast of the North Island and South Waikato | |
| Te Tai Tokerau | Hone Harawira | Māori | Upper North Island | |
| Te Tai Tonga | Mahara Okeroa | Labour | Wellington, the South Island, Stewart Island and the Chatham Islands | |
| Waiariki | Te Ururoa Flavell | Māori | Bay of Plenty, Taupo, Coromandel |
[edit] Abolished electorates
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[edit] Māori electorates
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[edit] Goldminers' electorates
- Goldfields
- Goldfields Towns
