Submission on MMP Review

Submissions on the review of MMP close today for those wishing to appear in person, so of course I finished by submission just after midnight this morning. If you wish to do a written submission only, you have until 31 May.

My submission is below. The summary of my recommendations are:

1. That the party vote threshold be set at 4%, as originally proposed by the Royal Commission.
2. That the electorate seat threshold be abolished, subject to the party vote threshold reducing to 4%.
3. That a party which gains an electorate seat, but does not make the party vote threshold, should be included in the St Lague calculations, but not allocated any quotients in excess of their electorate seats.
4. That sitting MPs be barred from contesting a by-election.
5. That dual candidacies be banned, with the possible exception of party leaders who should symbolically be placed at the top of their party’s list even if standing in an electorate.
6. That parties be required to allow all party members to have a vote on the party’s draft list, and that the results of the membership ballot be made public.
7. That the status quo with regard to overhangs should prevail.
8. That the Electoral Act should set a minimum proportion of List MPs to be 33% of Parliament to ensure proportionality and minimize overhang, and that the total size of Parliament should automatically increase if necessary to maintain that ratio.
9. That the tolerance for electorate seats be increased to 10%
10. That a superior court be given the power to revise the allocation of List MPs, should an electoral petition affect the eligibility of a party to List MPs.

MMP Submission