A Leaf Out Of New Zealand’s Voting System

Relevance: GS2- Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other countries

(Source: The Hindu, 11/06/2023)

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Why in the news?

This article discusses the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system used in New Zealand to elect members of the country’s legislature and its advantages.

What is the MMP voting system used in New Zealand?

• New Zealand uses a Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system in which voters cast two votes.
  • The first vote is a party vote to determine the overall composition of the Parliament.
  • The second vote is an electoral vote in which an MP is elected for the local constituency.
• The New Zealand parliament consists of 120 seats of which 72 are electorate seats filled through the second vote.
• The remaining 48 seats are the list seats that are filled by the parties from a list prepared by them prior to the elections.
• Voters can give both their votes to one political party, which is known as a ‘double tick’, or split their votes among two parties.
• As a result, voters can choose a candidate from a different party if they don’t like the local candidate from their preferred party.
  • In the MMP system, split votes help express the diverse and mindful voting patterns of the population without affecting the final tally of the voter’s preferred political party.
  • According to the Electoral Commission of New Zealand, the number of split votes increased from 27.33% in 2017 to 31.86% in 2020.
  • The number of switch seats, i.e seats where the party winning the electorate vote and list vote differed, increased from 8 constituencies to 13 in the 2023 elections.

Allocation of seats in the MMP system

• Candidates with the most votes become the electorate MP. It is not required that the candidate gains more than half the total votes.
• If a party gets at least 5% of the party vote or wins an electorate, the Sainte-Laguë formula is used to decide how many seats it is allocated in the Parliament.
• Each party gets a share of seats based on its share of the party vote.
  • For example, a party with 30% of the party vote gets about 36 seats out of the 120 seats in Parliament.
• Out of the seats allocated to the party, the candidates that won the electorates get the first priority.
  • If there are any seats leftover from the party’s total allocation, then the seats are allocated to those from the party list as per the order ranked by the party.
  • Consider a situation in which a party wins 30% of the party vote and 20 of its candidates win electorates, 20 out of the 36 seats go to the winning electorate candidates and the remaining 16 seats go to candidates from its party list.

Overhangs

• A party can win more electoral seats than the total it is entitled to based on the party vote.
• In this case, the party can keep the extra seats and the size of Parliament is increased by the extra until the next general election. This is known as an overhang.
  • Eg: A party with 5% of the party vote is entitled to 6 seats.
  • If it has, however, won more electorate seats, say seven, then it gets seven electorate MPs and no list MPs and the size of Parliament increases to accommodate the extra electorate MP.
• In the case of an overhang, the number of seats won by other parties is not affected.
• New Zealand has had four Parliaments with overhangs.
  • From 2005 to 2008, there were 121 MPs.
  • From 2008 to 2011, there were 122 MPs.
  • From 2011 to 2014, there were 121 MPs.
  • From 2014 to 2017, there were 121 MPs.

What are the advantages of the MMP system?

• Localized accountability: The split voting system ensures that elected representatives can be held accountable on a localized basis more easily.
  • In the MMP system, candidates will not be elected on the basis of a large wave of support for their party alone as voters can split their votes.
• Policy focus: Parties do not need to focus merely on the electoral winnability of candidates so they can highlight their policies and ideologies to attract voters.
• Improved representation: It has been observed that representation of women, indigenous communities, differently-abled people, and other marginalized groups increases in an MMP system.
  • After the MMP system was introduced in New Zealand, the share of women as MPs rose from 21% in 1993 to 51% at present.
  • Similarly, the share of the Maori community also increased among representatives.
• Diversified and improved democracy: In the MMP system, voters can express their diverse political preferences without wasting their votes.
  • Fourth, MMP enhances democracy by letting voters express a diverse range of political preferences without wasting their votes as the seats won by a party depend on the party votes gained as well. .
• Greater flexibility: The MMP system provides greater flexibility by voters to choose their ideal candidate-party combinations.
  • Parties and candidates are chosen by voters in a mutually exclusive manner with no effect on each other.
• Participation of the youth: Following the introduction of the MMP system, the average age of an MP in New Zealand has declined to 47.3 years in the 2020 elections.
  • Split voting has lowered the entry barrier for young politicians.

Disadvantages of the system

• Tactical voting: Some critics of the MMP system claim that voters could support a party they do not endorse in order to keep another party out of power.
  • This could harm the quality of democracy and manipulate election results.
• Importance of list seats: In the MMP system, the vote for the local MP can be considered less important than the party vote as it helps determine the overall allocation of parliamentary seats.
  • However, voters are not always aware of this which can affect the results.
• Inequality among MPs: The MMP can create two classes of MPs - one elected directly by the population and others elected by the party based on their prior lists.
• End of majority governments: Critics have claimed that the MMP system could mean the end of decisive majority governments due to the split nature of voting.

Is the MMP system applicable to India?

• India uses a first-past-the-post system in which the candidate in each constituency with the most votes is elected as the representative to the constituency.
• In the Indian electoral framework, the liberty of voters to express their genuine preference is curtailed by compulsive voting with most voters hesitant to vote outside their party affiliations or electoral winnability.
• A split voting system would allow voters to choose their candidates based on merit while ensuring their party preferences determine the composition of the legislature.
• This would help build a nuanced and mature democracy in which voters can distinguish between the party and its candidates and judge them based on their ability to represent them capably.
• Although the Indian electorate has typically been wary of contemporary political behavior, political behavior in some states has indicated its feasibility.
  • Consider the example of Odisha which practices simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assembly. In 2019, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) led 88 out of 146 Assembly constituencies in the Lok Sabha while winning 113 of 146 constituencies in the Legislative Assembly.
  • This amounted to a difference of 25 seats and 2% vote share for the BJD.

Conclusion

• The Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system has several advantages in New Zealand localized accountability, improved representation, and increased flexibility for voters with some drawbacks such as tactical voting and inequality among MPs.
• Therefore, it must be carefully examined to ensure that it is applicable to the unique electoral landscape and voting sensibilities of India.

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FAQs

MCQs

Question: Consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE 2020)

1. According to the Constitution of India, a person who is eligible to vote can be made a minister in a State for six months even if he/she is not a member of the Legislature of that State.
2. According to the Representation of People Act, 1951, a person convicted of a criminal offense and sentenced to imprisonment for five years is permanently disqualified from contesting an election even after his release from prison.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2