HorizonPoll: 50% will vote to keep MMP

50% are voting to keep the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting in this weekend’s referendum.

39.8% will vote against it, while 10.1% say they won’t vote on this question in the booths on Saturday, according to a RadioLIVE-HorizonPoll covering 2,701 adults.

Should New Zealand keep the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting system?

A. I will vote to keep the MMP voting system

50.1%

B. I will vote to change to another system

39.8%

C. I will not vote on this question at the election

10.1%

The most favoured alternative to MMP, if New Zealand does vote to change the system is First Past the Post (FPP) with 24.2% followed by Single Transferable Vote (STV) with 20.9%.

11. Which of the following voting systems will you choose?

A. I will choose the First Past the Post system (FFP)

24.2%

B. I will choose the Preferential Voting system (PV)

10%

C. I will choose the Single Transferable Vote system (STV)

20.9%

D. I will choose the Supplementary Member System (SM)

15.6%

E. I will not vote on this question at the election

29.3%

The HorizonPoll firstly allowed voters to say “don’t know” when answering if they wanted to keep MMP or change the voting system.

It found 44.1% support for MMP, 34.3% support for change and that 21.6% said they were undecided.

In a subsequent question, when respondents were asked to imagine they were in the voting booth and there was no option to say “don’t know”, the result firmed to 50% for keeping MMP and 39.8% wanting voting system change.

Results when allowed an undecided option:

Should New Zealand keep the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting system?

A. New Zealand should keep MMP

44.1%

B. New Zealand should change to a different system

34.3%

C. I am undecided

21.6%

The survey was conducted between 7.38am Tuesday 22 November and 8.36am Wednesday 23 November, 2011.Weighted by age, gender, ethnicity, educational qualification, personal income and party vote 2008 to provide a representative sample of the New Zealand population aged 18+, the maximum margin of error at a 95% confidence level is ± 1.9%.

The survey is continuing until electoral law stops polling at midnight Thursday 24 November.

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>