Two Ticks? Too Easy! - MMP basics
On election day your two votes help decide who will represent us in parliament. Your votes do make a difference - here's why...
Each voter has two votes ...
... a party vote and an electorate vote.
Your party vote ...
... helps decide how many seats each party gets in parliament.
Every voter in every general and every Māori electorate has the same selection of parties to choose from.
The government will be formed by one or more parties with the support of enough seats to win important votes in parliament.
Parliament is currently made up of 63 general and 7 Māori electorate seats, plus 50 seats allocated from party lists, giving a total of 120 seats.
Your electorate vote...
... helps decide who becomes your local MP.
Each electorate has a different selection of candidates to choose from.
Electorate candidates can include independents and candidates from parties not contesting the party vote.
The candidate who gets the most votes wins the seat.
How do party votes turn into seats?
Parties getting seats will get a share of seats in parliament close to their share of party votes.
A party's share of seats is filled first by any of its candidates who win electorate seats and then by taking other candidates from the party list.
A party will get seats in parliament based on its party vote if it wins:
- 5% or more of all the party votes, or
- one or more electorate seats.
This is called the "threshold".
Can my electorate vote change a party's total share of seats?
Not usually, only when you are in an electorate where:
- A party needs to win it to get any seats because it might get less than 5% of all party votes.
- Winning it will give a party more electorate seats than its share from the party vote - called an "overhang".
- It might be won by an independent or candidate from a party not after the party vote.
What happens to the votes cast for a party that doesn't cross the threshold?
Party votes cast for parties that don't cross the threshold are disregarded in the allocation process (which uses a mathematical formula and not percentages to share out the seats) and they are not in any way reallocated to the other parties. A party vote cast for a party that does not cross threshold has no impact on the number of seats other parties will receive. In this sense it has the same impact as a non-vote - exactly none - except that the voter's electorate vote will have helped decide that particular contest.
How do overhang seats happen, who gets them, and what do they mean?
If a party wins more electorate seats than its share of seats determined by the party vote then the extra seats are not taken away and the number of MPs in parliament increases, for the life of that parliament.
All of the electorate seats won by the party are kept as they have been fairly elected by those electorates. But, so as not to disadvantage other parties, the number of extra seats is not taken out of the 120 so that 120 are kept for proportional allocation. So, while the overhang (say of "x" seats) is created by the relevant party, the overhang seats actually go to the parties allocated the last "x" seats from the 120. Any electorate or list seat vacancies that occur during the life of that parliament are dealt with as usual.
In plain English and other languages or formats
Two Ticks? Too Easy! .pdf download : MMP audio - English (MP3 1MB) : TV ad - Two Ticks (MPG 1MB) : TV ad - Turning party votes into seats (MPG 1MB)
Get Ready and Vote: The Easy Guide to Voting - a plain language information resource about enrolling and voting (.pdf 776KB) : Get Ready and Vote audio - English (MP3 9MB)