Under the MMP system, the House of Representatives comprises 120 MPs. Of these, 51 are List MPs (candidates nominated by registered political parties prior to the General Election), 62 represent General Electorates and seven Maori Electorates. Only Maori who are registered on the Maori Roll can vote in a Maori Electorate. All others are registered on the General Roll.
Registered electors cast two votes:
- a vote for a political party - this is known as the Party Vote
- a vote for a candidate seeking to represent a local electorate - this is known as the Electorate Vote
Each party's total number of Party Votes determines its share of the 120 seats in Parliament.
However, before a party is entitled to this share, it must receive at least 5% of all Party Votes cast at the election, or win at least one General or Maori Electorate.
The system works like this. A Party that wins 30% of the Party Vote is entitled to 36 MPs in total. If it already has 15 Electorate MPs, a further 21 List MPs will be appointed to bring its total to 36. This ensures that final representation fairly reflects a party's share of the national vote. List MPs are appointed on the basis of a candidate's ranking on the party list.
