Don't fall for a trick vote to retain MMP

Dr Jon Johansson is a Senior Lecturer of Politics at Victoria University of Wellington.

Dr Jon Johansson explains why MMP must be retained

Are you wondering how to vote in the referendum on Election Day? Do you know why we're even having one?

This other campaign, about the future of our electoral system, is very important but you've not heard anywhere near as much about it. One reason why is because the referendum is not the result of wide public protest or unease. It was National keeping a promise it probably wishes it had never made.

I'm sure, in his heart of hearts, if John Key had of possessed the freedom to hold any referendum it wouldn't have been on MMP. A four-year term is one area where many of us would like to see the public have the chance to debate the merits or otherwise of considered change. Alas, that issue is buried in the constitutional review.

I support the retention of MMP. I'll say that up front, basically because our history has always led us towards greater democracy and MMP fits this tradition. If we think of our democracy as a house, New Zealand's is a stable, well-built, and envious one, with strong foundations, and gradual but continual strengthening. MMP has been a colourful addition and whatever it teething pains it has served us pretty well.

Our votes are now equal in a way they never were under FPP. The chronic abuses of power we endured in the 1970s, 80s and early-1990s have stopped.

For a long time polls have shown that over 60 per cent of New Zealanders want to either keep MMP or they want changes to it. A minority want to change away from MMP altogether. Now, in 2011, some people are confused because they want to get the one-seat rule (which allows the Epsom shenanigans to go on) changed, but aren't sure how to do it. Simply put, if you'd like to fine tune MMP, or just want to keep it, then you need to tick the box in Part A of the ballot paper that says: "I vote to keep the MMP voting system." Then, if a majority agrees to keep MMP an independent review of MMP will be undertaken by the Electoral Commission, with recommended changes reported back by next October. If, however, you do want to change electoral systems, you need to tick the box that says: "I want to change to another voting system."

Although the Anti-MMP spokesperson Jordan Williams claims "turkeys won't vote for an early Christmas," you can safely dismiss his attempt to confuse. If we vote for the review, by keeping MMP, the people will have told their elected officials to fix MMP and given the high quality referendum process the Government has already established it is an unfair and cynical criticism that the Government wouldn't then follow through and act on the public will to implement changes recommended to them by the non-political Electoral Commission.

In Part B of the ballot four choices are placed before you: First-Past-the-Post (FPP), Preferential Voting (PV), Single Transferable Vote (STV), and Supplementary Member (SM). Every voter should also tick one of these boxes, even those who want to keep MMP.

Although there are four options there are really only two effective choices. If you vote to keep MMP then STV should get your tick in Part B. It's the only proportional system among the four choices and this sends a loud message that keeping your vote as equal as your neighbours is important to you. The three other choices will all make your votes significantly less equal than they are under MMP so only STV can help keep your vote equal. If you do vote against MMP then your choice is likely to be amongst the three alternatives of FPP, SM, or PV, although some of you may also prefer to tick STV for different reasons.

However, don't fall for a trick. The anti-MMP campaign is urging voters to vote for a "compromise" system called SM, claiming this is a half-way house between MMP and FPP. This is not true. FPP and SM are very much alike, with SM essentially FPP with lipstick. It is not a proportional system so your vote will be far less equal. More important, though, the anti-MMP lobby knows that the SM system will never win the referendum. It is an obscure system from Kazakhstan that is supported by Vote for Change (established by Peter Shirtcliffe), The Maxim Institute, The Business Round Table, and Ruth Richardson, but by hardly any other New Zealanders. People who vote for SM are just helping take us back to the old FPP system.

Fixing our democratic house via a review of MMP seems to me a far better choice than pulling it down. Otherwise we risk creating another three years of uncertainty, and possibly not learning from our history. If there's one mistake we don't ever want to repeat, it's having a voting system that treats each of our votes differently and gives politicians too much power. I get the feeling that the main public reaction to the referendum is confusion. So here again is what to do if you support MMP: In Part A of the ballot paper tick: "I vote to keep the MMP voting system." In Part B tick the second best system after MMP: "STV."