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In New Zealand’s Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system, the party vote helps determine how many seats each party gets in Parliament, while the electorate vote chooses the local candidate who represents your electorate. They are separate choices on the same ballot, and you do not have to vote for the same party and candidate.
What does each vote choose?
| Party vote | Electorate vote |
|---|---|
| You select a political party. | You select a candidate standing in your electorate. |
| It largely determines the party’s total number of seats in Parliament. | It determines which candidate wins the electorate seat. |
| After seats are allocated, party-list candidates fill any places not taken by that party’s electorate winners. | The candidate with the most votes wins, even without more than half of all electorate votes. |
The Electoral Commission sums up the first role this way: “The party vote largely decides the total number of seats each political party gets.” What is MMP?
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How do the votes turn into MPs?
- Voters cast both votes. One is for a party; the other is for a local candidate. Your choices can be for different parties.
- Electorate winners are identified. In each electorate, the candidate with the most votes wins its seat. The Commission describes the result as: “The candidate with the most votes in your electorate becomes your electorate MP.” How are MPs elected?
- Qualifying parties’ total seat numbers are calculated from the party vote. The Sainte-Laguë formula is used to allocate seats. A party’s electorate MPs count toward its total, and list MPs fill the balance.
For illustration, the Commission’s explainer says a party with 30% of the party vote would receive about 36 of 120 seats. If 20 of its candidates won electorates, 16 party-list candidates would fill the remaining places. These numbers illustrate the allocation process; they are not a prediction of an election result. How are MPs elected?
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A party normally needs at least 5% of the nationwide party vote to qualify for seats. There is an important exception: winning at least one electorate seat also qualifies a party, even if its party-vote share is below 5%. What is MMP? Electoral Commission of New Zealand, 2012 review of MMP
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The Commission’s 2012 report uses the 2008 election to show how the rules worked: the Greens received 6.7% of the party vote and won nine of 122 seats; ACT received 3.6% but won an electorate and qualified for five seats; New Zealand First received 4.1% and won no electorate, so it received no seats. These are historical examples, not current party results. Electoral Commission of New Zealand, 2012 review of MMP
What is an overhang?
If a party wins more electorate seats than its party-vote-based seat entitlement, it keeps those electorate MPs. The extra seats are called an overhang, and Parliament grows by that number for the term. The Commission says the Parliament following the 2023 General Election has 123 MPs; that count reflects that election and is not a permanent Parliament size. How are MPs elected?
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Are the two votes counted independently?
In a narrow eligibility case, yes: the Commission says an electorate vote cast for an electorate where the voter is not eligible is disallowed, while that voter’s party vote is counted as “Party Vote Only.” This does not mean that voters ordinarily need to match their party and candidate choices. Ways to vote
How can I explore possible seat outcomes?
The Electoral Commission’s MMP seat allocation calculator lets readers explore how party-vote totals and assumed electorate wins interact. The page was updated in September 2026. It is a scenario calculator, not a forecast of an election.
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