MMP is not even fully proportional.
Last election, 159,585 party votes elected nobody. Yet these commentators are effectively saying National voters are being undemocratic if they refuse to waste their party votes.
I have split my vote for the last three elections.
I vote for Todd McClay because he is a good local MP. I vote for ACT because it has the best policies.
Apparently, that is perfectly legitimate.
But if a National supporter decides to vote for McClay and give ACT their party vote, commentators call it rorting MMP.
I know National supporters who believe ACT and New Zealand First have made this a better government.
But if their reason is that, on current polling, perhaps 800,000 National party votes will elect no additional MPs, why is their wish not to waste their vote illegitimate?
In a democracy, it is voters who decide.
Luxon may be determined to commit electoral suicide. We do not have to help him.
The Honourable Richard Prebble CBE is a former member of the New Zealand Parliament. Initially a member of the Labour Party, he joined the newly formed ACT New Zealand party under Roger Douglas in 1996, becoming its leader from 1996 to 2004. This article was sourced HERE
Apparently, that is perfectly legitimate.
But if a National supporter decides to vote for McClay and give ACT their party vote, commentators call it rorting MMP.
I know National supporters who believe ACT and New Zealand First have made this a better government.
But if their reason is that, on current polling, perhaps 800,000 National party votes will elect no additional MPs, why is their wish not to waste their vote illegitimate?
In a democracy, it is voters who decide.
Luxon may be determined to commit electoral suicide. We do not have to help him.
The Honourable Richard Prebble CBE is a former member of the New Zealand Parliament. Initially a member of the Labour Party, he joined the newly formed ACT New Zealand party under Roger Douglas in 1996, becoming its leader from 1996 to 2004. This article was sourced HERE
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