The party vote is the tick you give to a political party rather than a person. Added up across the whole country, party votes decide what share of Parliament's 120 seats each party receives. It is the more powerful of the two votes, because it decides which parties are in a position to form a government.
The party vote is the tick you give to a political party rather than a person. Added up across the whole country, party votes decide what share of Parliament's 120 seats each party receives. It is the more powerful of the two votes, because it decides which parties are in a position to form a government.
One national total, counted across every electorate.
Share of party votes ≈ share of seats.
A party needs 5%, or one electorate seat, to qualify.
Party votes fill both electorate and list seats.
Every party vote in the country goes into one big national pile per party. Where you live makes no difference to your party vote at all: a party vote in Kaitaia counts exactly the same as one in Bluff.
Once the totals are in, the seats are allocated using a formula called Sainte-Laguë, which is just a fair way of rounding percentages into whole seats.
Because the party vote sets seat numbers, and seat numbers decide who can reach a majority, the party vote is effectively the vote for who runs the country.
Does my party vote go to a person?
Indirectly. It fills seats from that party's ranked list and its electorate wins.
What happens to votes for parties under 5%?
They do not win seats, and the seats are shared among qualifying parties instead.