MMP referendum set for election date
New Zealanders will get the chance to choose not only the Government but their preferred voting system when a referendum on MMP is held at the same time as the election this year.
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New Zealanders will get the chance to choose not only the Government but their preferred voting system when a referendum on MMP is held at the same time as the election this year.
Prime Minister John Key this afternoon announced the November 26 date for the election and referendum.
The referendum, a National Party election promise, will ask voters two questions.
The first will be whether they want to keep MMP -- mixed member proportional -- or change to another system, and the second will ask which alternative they would prefer from a list of options.
If a majority want to change, a second referendum will be held in 2014 when voters will be asked to choose between MMP and the most preferred alternative.
The alternative systems on offer will be First Past the Post, Preferential Voting, Single Transferable Vote and Supplementary Member.
Lobby group Campaign For MMP spokeswoman Sandra Grey said the timing of the election, five weeks after the Rugby World Cup, would give voters a chance to get their heads around the information presented to them.
Ms Grey said a key issue for the referendum was letting the public know that the best way to improve MMP was to vote for it, as doing so would trigger an independent review.
"We know that MMP is a broadly popular electoral option, and recent polls have confirmed this. But some people want to see changes to certain aspects of MMP," she said.
"MMP has been running well for five elections, but that doesn't mean it can't be made even better. The public can now vote to keep MMP in the confidence that this will mean a thorough independent process to review it."
NZPA
Wed, 02 Feb 2011
Wed, 02 Feb 2011
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MMP referendum set for election date
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