NZ Parliament: End First Past the Post Counting of Electorate Seat Votes

We the people of New Zealand call on our Parliament to end the undemocratic First Past the Post (FPP) vote counting system in Electorate Seats and amend the Electoral Act 1993 to require:

1. All Electorate Seat votes to be counted under Instant Runnoff Voting (IRV) in the following manner: On the first count if a candidate has a majority (half all valid votes plus one) they are elected. Otherwise the lowest ranked candidate is eliminated and votes for that candidate distributed to the remaining candidates according to the eliminated candidate's lodged IRV ticket. After distribution if a candidate has a majority they are elected. Otherwise the process repeats until a candidate gains a majority.

2. Electoral Seat candidates to lodge their IRV ticket with the Electoral Commission one week after closure of candidate nominations. A candidate's IRV ticket must rank all other candidates for the seat in the preferred order of the candidate lodging the ticket.

3. The Electoral Commission to publish all IRV tickets within three days of lodgement.

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This simple change would help end the rorts in NZ Electorate Seats. It would end the need for voters to "vote strategically" for a candidate they don't even like.

Bu it would be a huge step forward for democracy in NZ.