Hon Judith Collins
Minister of Justice
5 November 2012 Media Statement
Report on MMP system received

Justice Minister Judith Collins has tabled the Electoral Commission’s final report on the MMP voting system in Parliament today.

The Commission conducted the independent review following last November’s referendum on the voting system, in which the majority of voters chose to keep MMP. The Commission released a list of possible changes in August, and received more than 1,000 submissions on the proposals.

In its final report the Electoral Commission has recommended several changes to the MMP system. The main recommendations are:

• lowering the party threshold to 4 per cent - but that this be statutorily reviewed by the Commission after three General Elections
• abolishing the one electorate seat threshold
• abolishing the provision for overhang seats, and
• that Parliament consider fixing the percentage ratio of electorate to list seats at 60:40.

“I would like to thank the public for the way they actively engaged with the MMP review. Almost 6,000 submissions were received during the two stages of the review.

“The Government will now carefully consider the Commission’s recommendations and will be consulting with other parties in Parliament for their views,” Ms Collins said.

The report is available on the Electoral Commission’s MMP Review website http://www.mmpreview.org.nz.

ENDS

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