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Which voting system?

This survey has now closed.

Councillors regularly review the way the Council is elected. Soon, they will look at Maori representation and whether our current wards fairly represent residents. The review also decides which voting system will be used for the next Council election. This survey is your chance to help your councillors select the voting system you want.

We want to know whether the voting system we use to elect the Mayor, councillors and community boards is the best one for the Far North. There is a choice between the system we already use, First Past the Post (FPP), or Single Transferable Voting (STV). If we change the voting system, that will be the one used for the next two Council elections in 2022 and 2025.

The survey is open between 6-21 July 2020. All you need to do is choose the voting system you prefer. All valid entries will go in to a draw to win a $100 VISA Prezzy card.

The decision "Which voting system?" will be made by Councillors at the next Council meeting on 13 August. This is a public meeting. It will be live-streamed on our YouTube channel.

First Past the Post (FPP)

This is the voting system we currently use to elect the Mayor, councillors and community boards. It is easy to understand and most people in Aotearoa New Zealand are familiar with it

Voters place a tick beside the name of the person they wish to vote for and the candidate with the most votes wins.

Where there are several positions to be filled, you get one vote for each vacancy. Again, candidates with the most votes are elected.

Single Transferable Voting (STV)

STV is a proportional voting system used in parts of Australia, United States and Ireland. It is also sometimes used to elect board members to companies like Fonterra.

Instead of ticking the candidate you want, you rank candidates in order of preference – “1” beside your most preferred candidate, “2” beside the second-most preferred, and so on.

To be elected, a candidate must get a certain number of votes. This is known as the ‘quota’ and is worked out after voting has closed. The quota is calculated by dividing the total number of votes received by the number of vacancies, plus one vote.

To be elected, a candidate must get enough votes to reach the quota. If there is more than one vacancy, votes received over the quota are partially transferred to other candidates in order of voter preference. Those with fewest votes are eliminated and their votes are partially transferred to other candidates. This process repeats until enough candidates reach the quota and all vacancies are filled.