Electoral reform in New Zealand

Electoral reform in New Zealand has been a political issue in the past as major changes have been made to both parliamentary and local government electoral systems.

National elections in New Zealand were first held in 1853 using the basic first-past-the-post (FPP) voting system and were conducted over a period of two and a half months. At this time, the country was divided into 23 electorates, who elected either a single member or three members (MPs), depending on their population. In the multiple-seat districts, multiple non-transferable vote (also known as block voting) was used. This basic system continued for a long time, with major diversions being only a change to the second ballot system (a type of two-round system), used for the 1908 election and 1911 election and swiftly repealed in 1913.

In the 1993 electoral reform referendum, New Zealanders voted to adopt the mixed-member proportional (MMP) system, which was first used in 1996. MMP is a system of proportional representation in which there is a mix of electorate MPs and list MPs. Proportional representation led to an increase in minor parties entering Parliament, making multi-party governments the norm. Since the introduction of MMP, there have been occasional proposals for further reform; in a 2011 referendum, New Zealanders voted to retain MMP.