No more Epsom tea parties and no referendum – commission
Electoral Commission also recommends lowering the party threshold from 5% to 4%.
Tweaks to MMP – with the tweakers very much ensconced in Wellington – are proposed by the Electoral Commission.
The commission delivered its report on the MMP electoral system today and it says there is no need to trouble the voters' heads with any further referenda on the issue.
The commission recommends:
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Lowering the party threshold to 4% from the present level of 5%
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Removal of any "overhang" from electorate seat wins by parties which do not make the 4% threshold
- Removal of any additional seats arising from electorate wins in, say, Epsom, Wigram or Ohariu.
That was the most unpopular aspect of MMP, commission chief executive Robert Peden said in releasing the proposals this morning.
"The commission is strongly of the view that the one electorate seat threshold should be removed," he says.
That has led to "unfair and inequitable results" and was "the single biggest factor of concern about the MMP system".
There were more than 4700 submissions on the MMP review.
The commission also says sitting MPs should still be able to "double dip" and stand for both list seats and electorate seats.
Although there are strong views against that, opinion among submitters is "almost evenly divided", Mr Peden says.
"Double dipping" or dual candidacy, although widely unpopular, is not as common as many people believe. Most candidates who have done so have not lasted long in politics, he says.
"There have been 23 cases of that happening since 1999 ... and the interesting thing for us is that the turnover in the list is far higher than the turnover in electorates."
The commission also fastidiously backed away from any proposals to allow the public to vote for a party's list ranking.
"Any benefit in voter choice that might arise from open or semi-open lists is more than outweighed by the complexity it would add to the voting system."
The commission says there is no need for a further referendum on MMP.
Just over 41% of voters polled against MMP at the referendum carried out last year with the general election and Mr Peden says that should be an end to the matter.
"We have concluded that relatively few changes to MMP are required, but the proposals we make are important. They would greatly enhance public confidence in the system.
"For that reason the commission's view is that a referendum would not be required."
A constitutional review is to be held later this year and this could deal with some related issues, he says.
Responses to the commission's report are due by September 7. The final report is to go to Justice Minister Judith Collins by October 31.
Rob Hosking
Mon, 13 Aug 2012
Mon, 13 Aug 2012
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No more Epsom tea parties and no referendum – commission
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