KEY POINTS:
Less than 40 per cent of New Zealanders think they have a good grasp of what MPs do, a survey has found.
The Electoral Commission carried out the survey, and said the number of people voting in elections was likely to continue falling if interest in politics didn't increase.
"We know that non-voters are generally younger and non-voting becomes a lifelong habit," said the commission's chief executive, Helena Catt.
"Increasing interest in politics will be critical to arresting the decline before the rate accelerates, as it has elsewhere."
The survey was conducted in June and July by UMR Research and questioned 3000 people.
Dr Catt said just 38 per cent claimed to have "a good idea" of what MPs did.
"And there's still a real mix of attitudes towards list MPs," she said.
"Fifty per cent strongly agree with the view that list MPs are not as accountable to voters as electorate MPs.
"In fact, 53 per cent think that a sitting electorate MP who loses an electorate seat should not be able to return to Parliament through the party list."
Dr Catt said there was still a long way to go before it was accepted that all MPs were equally accountable.
"List MPs are elected, not just selected, and we certainly believe that the media and voters need to scrutinise party lists thoroughly at election time."
The survey also checked out understanding of the MMP system, which was introduced in 1996.
It showed 51 per cent considered it was easy to understand (19 per cent very easy), while 26 per cent said it was difficult (6 per cent very difficult).
Understanding was related to personal income - 61 per cent of those with incomes of over $70,000 said MMP was easy to understand, while 45 per cent of those with incomes of $15,000 or less had the same view. There was a clear trend for ethnicity - 6 per cent of all respondents said they found MMP very difficult to understand, but among Pacific people this rose to 22 per cent.
Dr Catt said the commission needed to refine its education strategy.
"We need to work on deepening understanding of the impact of MMP on the work of MPs and the opportunities for citizens to be an effective part of the process between elections."
- NZPA
