by Cimino | 13 Dec 2011 | MMP
At 74.21%, Aotearoa hasn’t seen lower turnout percentages, consistently, since 1887. And although the 1978 turnout is recorded as 69.2%, this was a one-off aberration reflecting an under-resourced attempt to reform the electoral enrolment process—the following two...
by Temepara Morehu | 1 Dec 2011 | Māori representation
I am now three months off age 64. And I think I am finally over waking up election morning and making sure that me my children and one mokopuna go out and vote. My paternal grandfather urged his children to ‘tick the paper or don’t moan.’ I am of the same ilk, as was...
by Cimino | 30 Nov 2011 | Cartoons, MMP
It was uncannily similar to ancient Greece. In Saturday’s tactical voting, where 54% could be said to have voted against John Banks, citizens were mimicking the first formal Greek use of the ballot, which was to ostracise a civic leader—his name having been scratched...
by Cimino | 28 Nov 2011 | MMP
The word has been proportionally expunged from the electoral lexicon. Had the election been held under first-past-the-post, the result would have been a landslide of global warming proportions. In its first successful election, in 1949, National won 51.9% of the vote...
by Cimino | 19 Nov 2011 | MMP
There are two mixed-member systems on offer. Mixed-member proportional and mixed member majoritarian, also known as both supplementary member and parallel voting. At a glance, one system appears to be fully proportional, and the other semi proportional. It is being...
by Cimino | 15 Nov 2011 | Cartoons, MMP
The two things are tied together. The coattails provision and the 5% threshold, in New Zealand’s implementation of mixed member proportional. But first, it is necessary to consider why either might be necessary. Mixed member proportional is designed to ensure that...
