The Maori Party is backing a strategic voting approach to replicate its 2023 electoral overhang. The party has named only one list candidate beyond its seven electorate contenders, general secretary Lance Norman. Supporters are being urged to cast their candidate vote for The Maori Party while directing their party vote to the Greens or Labour. This aims to maximize Maori electorate wins and funnel party votes to parties likely to turn them into list MPs. Under MMP rules, parties exceeding the number of electorate seats their party vote entitles them to keep those seats, with Parliament expanding accordingly. In 2023, The Maori Party secured six electorates on a 3.08% party vote that entitled it to four seats, creating an overhang.
Strategic Voting Explained
Co-leader Rawiri Waititi said, “This list proves we are putting our money where our mouth is.” He added, “Our strategy is clear. We want more Maori in Parliament.” The tactic has drawn criticism from National, with former Prime Minister Sir John Key warning against what he called “you think is clever” moves. National leader Christopher Luxon labeled strategic voting “an insanely stupid idea.”
Coalition partners pushed back. ACT leader David Seymour affirmed, “Both votes belong to the voter,” while NZ First’s Winston Peters dismissed Key’s remarks as “very, very ill-informed.” Peters criticized the “very manipulation of the electoral system” by them and the left as requiring a response. Labour leader Chris Hipkins disagreed, telling RCR’s The Fourth Estate, “I don’t agree with people trying to manipulate the electoral system.”
Read Also: Ebola crisis worsens as Congo camps empty amid violence
Political Reactions and Historical Context
Political commentator Peter Williams said on RCR’s The Fourth Estate on Friday, “It’s not a rort, it’s the rules,” citing 1999 when Helen Clark supported Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons in Coromandel. Judge David Harvey agreed, stating, “It’s the way the system was designed.” Former National Party leader and Reserve Bank Governor Don Brash expressed concern, noting National’s polls suggest it “will get no list MPs at all.”
A Horizon Research poll of 607 Maori roll voters commissioned by Mata Reports placed the Greens at 28% and Labour at 27% for the party vote, with The Maori Party at 16%. The electoral strategy reflects a calculated effort to leverage MMP’s mechanics for disproportionate representation. If successful, it could change how coalitions are formed in the next Parliament.
Leave a Reply