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New Zealand (Aotearoa) is a unitary state with a parliamentary form of government in a constitutional monarchy. On the national, the unicameral parliament is directly elected every 3 years, but early elections can also be held.
Unlike in Australia, voting is not compulsory. The minimum age for both active suffrage (the right to vote) and passive (eligibility to stand for election) is 18 years. It is possible to vote at embassies abroad and by mail, but online or proxy voting is not possible. In New Zealand, in addition to the citizenship principle, the territorial principle is also almost fully recognized, and all residents who are not citizens are entitled to vote in parliamentary election, the condition for this is only 2 years of residence. Citizenship, however, is a condition for eligibility for office.
Parliament
Parliament
The sole chamber of the parliament is the House of Representatives, elected under a mixed proportional representation (MMP) system. The number of representatives is at least 120, but may be higher as a result of the specific election (it became 123 in the 123 election).
72 representatives are elected in single-member constituencies, and a minimum of 48 are elected in a national, closed-list election (i.e. the individual-list ratio is practically 60%-40%, with more list seats if necessary). A closed list means that voters can vote for a party list, but not for candidates on it, so they cannot change the predetermined order of candidates.
In single-seat districts (called electorates), voting is done by single-round, choose-one plurality, i.e. first-preference plurality (FPP) or first-past-the-post (FPTP). Of the single-member constituencies, 7 are special Maori electorates, which cover the country overlapping with the others. A voter can only register to vote in one constituency.
For the list seats, the legal threshold is 5%, and the Sainte-Laguë method is used to allocate seats between parties. This method ensures a high degree of proportionality. Parties with less than 5% of the vote that have won at least one electorate seat are also eligible for list seats.
Notes
Notes
This is the description of the electoral system of New Zealand as of 29.07.2026 on Electoral Knowledgebase. Sources and further information on this topic:
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