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Friday, September 19, 2014

2014 New Zealand General Election Saturday September 20,2014

 
The 2014 New Zealand general election is taking place on Saturday September 20,2014 to determine the membership of the 51st NZ Parliament

As of 14 September 2014, a total of 3,096,247 people have registered to vote in the election; around 91.3% of all eligible New Zealanders

A record 717,579 Advance Votes were cast, more than double the number cast in 2011

Voters will elect 120 members to the House of Representatives of NZ, with 71 from single-member electorate (an increase from 70 in 2011)and the remainder from Party Lists

Key dates relating to the General Election
10 March 2014 (Monday) Prime Minister John Key announces election to be held on 20 September
20 June 2014 (Friday) The regulated election advertising period begins.
31 July 2014 (Thursday) Last sitting day for the 50th Parliament
14 August 2014 (Thursday) Governor General dissolves the 50th Parliament
20 August 2014 (Wednesday) Writ Day - Governor General issues formal direction to the Electoral Commission to hold the election.
Electoral roll closes for printing (all people enrolling after this date must cast special declaration votes)
Official campaigning begins; radio and television advertising begins
27 August 2014 (Wednesday) Details of candidates for election and polling places released
3 September 2014 (Wednesday) Advance and overseas voting begins
19 September 2014 (Friday) Advance voting ends; overseas voting ends at 16:00 local time
The regulated election advertising period ends; all election advertising must taken down by midnight
20 September 2014 (Saturday) Election Day – polling places open 09:00 to 19:00
Preliminary results released progressively after 19:00
4 October 2014 (Saturday) Official results released
9 October 2014 (Thursday) Writ for election returned; official declaration of elected members (subject to judicial recounts)

Contesting parties and candidates

 At the close of nominations, 554 individuals had been nominated to contest the election, up from 544 at the 2011 election. Of those, 71 are list-only, 114 are electorate-only (including 13 candidates from non-registered parties and 23 independent candidates), and 369 are contesting for both list and electorate seats. Just under 30% of candidates (164) are female, up from 27% in 2011

Political parties registered with the Electoral Commission on Writ Day can contest the general election as a party. Each such party can submit a party list to contest the party vote, and can have a party election-expenses limit in addition to limits on individual candidates' campaigns.

 At Writ Day, 19 political parties had registered to contend the general election.At the close of nominations, 15 registered parties had put forward a party list to the Commission to contest the party vote, up from 13 in 2011.

On 27 May 2014, the Mana Party and Internet Party announced an agreement to field a combined party list at the election under the Internet Mana Party banner. Their electorate candidates, however, can continue to campaign under each individual party's banner.

While registered, the 1Law4All Party and the Alliance did not put forward party lists.


Campaign expense limits and broadcasting allocations

During the three month regulated period prior to election day (i.e. 20 June to 19 September 2014), parties and candidates have limits on how much they may spend on election campaigning. It is illegal in New Zealand to campaign on election day itself.
For the 2014 election, every registered party contending the party vote is permitted to spend $1,091,000 plus $25,700 per electorate candidate on election campaigning during the regulated period, excluding radio and television campaigning (broadcasting funding is allocated separately). A party contesting all 71 electorates is therefore permitted to spend $2,915,700 on election campaigning. All electorate candidates are permitted to spend $25,700 each on campaigning over and above their party's allocation

New Zealand voters are going to the polls after what is being called the dirtiest campaign in the nation's history.
Until very recently PM John Key looked set to easily win a third term.
But in recent weeks he has been forced to defend his National Party against allegations of dirty politics and planning mass domestic surveillance

On Friday Sep 19,2014, a New Zealand Herald poll showed the National Party had 48% support. The main opposition Labour Party held 26%, with 11% for the Greens.
New Zealand's proportional representation electoral system means a coalition government is more likely than any one party winning a majority.
My Key might be forced to rely on New Zealand First's leader, Winston Peters, to form a government. Mr Peters, who has been in this position before, has not said which way his party will go.
Labour would need to form a coalition with the Greens, their old ally, New Zealand First and potentially the Internet-Mana Party which has been funded by Kim Dotcom, the online billionaire accused of copyright infringement in the US.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, his wife and son place their votes in the ballot box on September 20, 2014 in Auckland
 New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, his wife and son place their votes in the ballot box on September 20, 2014 in Auckland.
Around three million New Zealanders are expected to cast their votes on Saturday, following the most explosive election campaign in years. Prime Minister John Key, leader of the center-right National Party, is seeking a third term in office

In polling for the "preferred prime minister," Key had 43% support, compared with 12% for Labour's David Cunliffe -- this despite allegations on the campaign trail that the prime minister lied to the nation by covertly approving a widespread spying program while publicly denying it

The latest Opinion Poll indicates National has 45% support, while the main opposition party, the center-left Labour, is on 25%. Under New Zealand's proportional representation system, major parties are usually required to form coalitions with smaller parties to form a government.

The National Party won the last election in 2011 with 49.78% of the vote.

Turnout has fallen "dramatically" in New Zealand over the last two decades, from 85% in 1981 to 69% at the last election in 2011


Since 1996, New Zealand has used theMixed Member Proportional(MMP) voting system, giving voters two votes: one for a political party and one for their local electorate MP.

 The party vote decides how many seats each party gets in the new Parliament; a party is entitled to a share of the seats if it receives 5% of the party vote or wins an electorate.

Once a party's share of seats is filled by its electorate MPs, extra MPs are elected from the party's list. If a party wins more electorates than seats it is entitled to, an overhang results and extra seats are added to the House to accommodate

The 50th Parliament had 121 seats due to an overhang caused by the Maori Party winning 3 electorates when only entitled them to 2 seats in the House

New Zealand's National Party Wins General Election

New Zealand's governing National Party has won an emphatic victory in general elections, near-complete results show.
With nearly 100% of the votes counted, PM John Key's party held 48%, with the opposition Labour Party lagging behind on 25%. The Greens had 10%.
The National Party is projected to win 61 seats in the 120-member parliament, according to the National Election Commission

Labour looks set to secure 32 seats, while the Greens will have 13.



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