In the lead up to the 1984 election, Bob Jones’s New Zealand Party stormed onto the political scene, winning one vote in eight, but gaining no seats in Parliament.
As a result, 256,000 votes were wasted. Our First Past the Post voting system left a quarter of a million voters completely unrepresented.
Three years earlier, the situation was even worse. The Social Credit Party captured the public mood to secure the support of one voter in five. But on election night, the Party gained only two seats in a 92-seat Parliament – 353,000 votes were wasted.
Concerns about wasted votes were one of the major reasons New Zealanders chose the two-vote MMP system. We were assured that while our electorate vote might be wasted on a losing candidate, our party vote would always count towards the final makeup of Parliament – with two minor exceptions.
The first was if we voted for a party that won no electorate seats and failed to reach the five‑percent threshold to enter Parliament – then all of our party votes would be wasted.
And the second was when a party we supported won more electorate seats than its party vote entitled it to. In such cases all party votes would effectively be wasted, since it would be the electorate seats that determined the party’s total number of MPs. Those extra seats would be retained as an ‘overhang’, and Parliament would grow in size to accommodate them.
Over the years, the ‘overhang’ has become a common feature of our MMP system.
It first occurred in 2005, when the Maori Party won four electorate seats but only 2.12 percent of the party vote, entitling it to three seats in our 120-seat Parliament. This created an “overhang” of one seat, and Parliament grew to 121 seats.
In 2008, the Maori Party created an overhang of two seats, in 2011 one seat, and in 2023, two seats.
In addition, while United Future leader Peter Dunne won his Ohariu electorate seat in 2014, his party vote of 0.2 percent was too small to entitle him to any seats in Parliament, so an overhang of one seat was created.
And in 2023, the sudden death of a Port Waikato candidate just before Election Day forced that election to be postponed. The by-election that was run later was won by National, increasing their electorate seats to 44 and boosting the overhang in the current Parliament from two seats to three.
In other words, for thirty years, relatively few party votes have been wasted: apart from those cast for parties failing to clear the threshold and some on overhang parties, the overwhelming majority of party votes have contributed to the final makeup of Parliament.
Until now.
As we face the 2026 election, a different set of dynamics is now operating.
A disillusionment with establishment parties appears to have afflicted both National and Labour. They have become stalled in the polls, seemingly unable to break through the 30 percent party vote threshold, as dissatisfied supporters turn to minor parties to provide the policy solutions they believe the country needs.
As a result, the combined party vote share for both National and Labour is experiencing an historic slump, dropping from 81 percent in 2017, to 75 percent in 2020, 65 percent in 2023, and now to an unprecedented low of around 55 percent in the latest 2026 polls.
This trend not only highlights how voters are increasingly abandoning the traditional two-party system in favour of minor coalition partners – ACT, New Zealand First, the Greens, and possibly TOP – but Electoral Commission data shows vote splitting is becoming more common.
At the 2023 election, almost 36 percent of voters gave their party vote to one party but their electorate vote to a candidate from another – an increase from 27 percent in 2020.
This pattern is particularly evident amongst the smaller parties. Of those who gave their party vote to ACT or New Zealand First, over 70 percent voted for an electorate candidate from another party – mostly National. For the Greens nearly 60 percent split their vote, and for the Maori Party, just over 40 percent.
As far as the main parties are concerned 22 percent of Labour voters split their vote and 16 percent of National.
What these figures tell us is that strategic voting is already a well-established feature of MMP elections – and since the potential governing blocs are so clearly defined at this election, with National, ACT and New Zealand First on the centre-right, and Labour, the Greens, the Maori Party, and TOP on the left, the number of voters using their two MMP votes differently is expected to grow.
That’s especially the case now that the Maori Party, which is attempting to use their reserved Maori seats to exploit the MMP overhang and change the Government, is campaigning on vote splitting. In fact, their party leaders are already claiming success: “This is the very first time the Maori roll will be determining who the next prime minister is.”
When it comes to electorate seats, 71 will be contested in 2026, one fewer than 2023. Of those electorates, National had maintained a relatively stable block of around 40 safe rural, provincial, and suburban seats over recent years, while Labour’s 20 to 30 stronghold seats were mostly urban.
However, the 2020 Covid election disrupted everything. Labour swept into power, not only winning an historic party vote majority, but producing a landslide of 46 electorate seats, including six of the seven Maori seats and seventeen National-held electorates.
The tide turned in 2023 as voters punished Labour’s mismanagement of the country by returning to National many of the electorates it had lost, along with some safe Labour strongholds such as New Lynn and Mt Roskill – with National only missing out on former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Mt Albert seat by 18 votes.
In the end, National won 43 electorate seats and 38.06 percent of the party vote. This entitled the Party to 48 seats in Parliament: 43 electorate MPs and five list MPs, with their ‘overhang’ seat taking their tally to 49 MPs – 44 electorate MPs and 5 list MPs.
While boundary reviews and population updates have altered voter demographics across many electorates, turning some “safe” seats marginal, it is still likely that National will win at least 37 electorates.
However, although National remains strong in the electorates, it has lost ground in its party vote. The effect is that the 2026 election is on track to deliver an unprecedented MMP result: National’s party vote is expected to produce no list MPs at all, since the electorates it is likely to secure will exceed its party vote entitlement.
This week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator, the Executive Director of The Initiative, Dr Oliver Hartwich explains the situation and what it means for MMP:
“On current polling, close to 900,000 people will give National their party vote, and none of those votes will yield an additional seat.
“National is on track to win about 37 electorates, one more than its share of the vote would give it. Its seats are already settled by the electorates alone. Whatever its supporters do with the party vote, National ends up with the same 37 seats.
“A National voter who understands this needs no instruction from anyone. Her party vote is dead where it is but alive anywhere else on the centre-right.
“The numbers are startling. If one National voter in nine reasons this way, the governing coalition wins a majority that current polling denies it. If one in four does, the coalition wins 69 seats in a Parliament of 132, even though the opposition parties, between them, won more votes.”
Let’s look into the detail to better understand why this election is so different.
The country’s two major newspapers Stuff and the Herald are each running a 2026 ‘poll of polls’, which combines all major political polls into a single, rolling average to theoretically provide a more accurate picture of voter support.
Stuff has now added an electorate flip calculator HERE, which indicates the voter changes needed to switch electorates between parties. It builds on the Electoral Commission’s interactive website resource HERE, which can be used to model potential election outcomes.
While both polls have National and Labour under 30 percent, their calculations are slightly different. We’ll examine the Herald’s predictions to see what they tell us.
The poll shows National on a party vote of 29.9 percent, which would entitle it to 36 seats in Parliament, Labour is on 27.6 percent with 33 seats, New Zealand First on 12 percent with 14 seats, the Greens on 11.6 percent with 14 seats, TOP on 8 percent with 10 seats, ACT on 7.9 percent with 10 seats, and the Maori Party on 2.1 percent with 3 seats.
If those numbers represented the election result, both the centre-right bloc and the left bloc would win 60 seats, and New Zealand would have a hung Parliament.
Let’s now look at how the result would change if National retained all 44 of the electorate seats it now holds. Since National’s party vote only entitles it to 36 MPs, the extra 8 electorate seats it won would create an overhang of eight in the next Parliament.
That means in a Parliament of 128 seats, winning parties would need to secure 65 seats between them. Using the above numbers, National, ACT and New Zealand First would gain 68 seats, while Labour, the Greens, TOP and the Maori Party would remain on 60 seats.
On these assumptions, the centre-right bloc would therefore hold a majority.
Under this scenario National would gain no list seats at all – and it is unlikely to do so unless its party vote climbs into the mid-30s before election day. As a result, it is highly likely all of National’s party votes will effectively be wasted.
As Dr Hartwich explained, this raises the possibility of strategic voting between the parties within a political bloc. If some National party supporters transferred their party vote to a Coalition partner instead of wasting it, National would retain its electorate seats, and the Coalition partner would gain additional representation, strengthening the centre-right.
The same principles apply to electorate voting. When parties support the same governing bloc, strategic voting could help Coalition partners win seats.
For instance, there are six electorates – Mt Albert, Nelson, Wigram, Taieri, Christchurch Central and Christchurch East – where the combined ACT–New Zealand First vote in 2023 exceeded Labour’s winning margin. If Coalition supporters voted for the National candidate, these seats could potentially be flipped from Labour to National.
There are six National seats with narrow majorities that could be retained by the centre-right if Coalition parties voted strategically: Banks Peninsula, West Coast–Tasman, Hutt South (Chris Bishop), Mt Roskill, Wairarapa and East Coast.
And the West Auckland boundary changes that have replaced New Lynn, Te Atatu and Kelston with three new electorates – Waitakere, Glendene and Henderson – could be competitive through centre-right strategic voting.
The point is that under MMP a voter is entitled to use their two votes in whatever lawful way they choose. They may double-tick the same party, or they may decide that their preferred outcome is better served by splitting their vote. The polls are telling us that the dynamics have changed at this election and 900,000 centre-right votes may be wasted. That’s something all centre-right voters should consider.
MMP was designed to ensure that votes translate into parliamentary representation. Yet under the circumstances we are facing today, the system appears likely to produce the opposite effect: substantial numbers of party votes that may produce no additional seats for the party receiving them. This is the strategic-voting dilemma facing voters in 2026.
With less than four weeks before overseas voting begins, the expression ‘the election is in the hands of voters’ has rarely been more meaningful. The way voters decide to use their two votes could materially affect the balance of power in the next Parliament.
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THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
*At the 2026 election, are you considering splitting your electorate and party votes between different parties?
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
| if a candidate is in an electorate he is unlikely to win , it is a waste voting for him/her. | Bruce |
| There is now a website called: splityourvote.co.nz. If you are not sure, check it out. | Carole |
| National have been a grave disappointment. But I will vote for their candidate and give ACT or NZF my party vote. I haven’t decided which yet. I’m hoping one of them will promise to remove race from the Statute books so we can get rid of government-imposed racial division in NZ. | Don |
| Electorate vote: NAT Party vote: NZ First | Hohepa |
| Ive always voted National but now leaning towards Act party vote and National electorate vote | Liz |
| I always split my vote, why not. Two votes to National, the maori lovers no way | Monica |
| I always have, that is the way MMP is supposed to work. | Nigel |
| I was informed that splitting a vote under MMP is the best way. | Audrey |
| This is especially important in Tamaki and Epsom which are held by Act. Vote National for the electorate. | Tony |
| National electoral Act party | Graeme |
| staying the same | leo |
| We need a steady economic approach for the next term. | diana |
| I’m in the Taranaki -King Country electorate. I’m giving both votes to N Z First | Greg |
| I feel better that way | Gerhard |
| I split my vote last election as well. Both centre right | Lynette |
| In my opinion I don’t think Kiwis that become citizens of other countries should be entitled to vote in NZ elections.Most wouldn’t know what/who they are electing | Colleen |
| Can not. decide, they all promise everything, and deliver on nothing | Fiona |
| We need National to win the Taieri electorate & Party vote to Act the only party that stands up for New Zealanders to be treated equally & believes in personal responsibility instead of state sponsored bribery threw give aways paid for by Debt. | Larry |
| It’s the “right” thing to do. | Mary |
| I’ve always split my vote – its the only thing that makes sense! | John |
| Same as last election | DAVID |
| Listened to John Key yesterday re his ‘two ticks’ comments and surprised how out of touch he is. | John |
| We must do all we can to stop the commies. | BrUcE |
| For sure | Kevin |
| I will give NZF my Party Vote and National my Electoral Vote. | David |
| I dont vote because I dont like political parties…Independents are the way forward | Magog |
| only idiots split votes altho labour has plenty of them | cliff |
| I withdrew from the Maori electoral roll because my electorate had 3 left-wing candidates and zero right-wing candidates. On the general roll, I can vote for the best candidate from the whole range and for the party with the best overall policies. | Nigel |
| Definitely splitting my vote as I don’t want my vote to be wasted in any way possible! | Walnetta |
| how Luxon cannot see that National is going to lose a a lot of votes is beyond me! so many of us have had a gutsful of Maorification that we now have amongst us. | Reg |
| How do we get this message out to voters. Luxon and his team should be continually pushing this and not the line of 2 ticks for National. | Michael |
| Not happy with all of national party policy .I think Nicola Willis should go as finance minister Party vote to ACT | Martin |
| Two ticks blue all the way – it’s the only way NOT to waste your party vote!! Giving a Party Vote to either of ACT or NZ First means inexperienced, unknown and not as well vetted candidates could become MPs!!! At the loss of experience! Not at all what we want or need to keep things moving forward. With that mindset you may as well vote on the left. Two ticks blue all the way | Susan |
| National need an anchor on thier right | Willy |
| National can not be trusted | Michael |
| ACT in Tamaki have a seemingly good candidate in James Christmas. If they didn’t I would give my electoral vote to National and party vote ACT. To say National have been a bitter disappointment over the last 3 years would be an understatement. | Bruce |
| You would be mad not to split your vote. ACT for the party and hold your nose and vote National in your electorate. | Richard |
| te for the party so Party Vote ACT candidate vote National | Alastair |
| National has let me down wiith race / governess and english language issues and now Foodstuffs. | martin |
| Pity about Nationals inability to read the mood of their supporters in seemingly avoiding their commitments made at the last election | yony |
| My Electorate is strong National so I’ll support NZ First or Act with the Party Vote because I think National needs to wake up! | Alan |
| I will not split my vote. More to the point, the lack of understanding of so many New Zealanders is at least baffling. At least two scenarios at the 2023 general election are possible. !) Voters punished the Labour led government for gross economic mismanagement. If that scenario is true, why do so many have such a short memory span and want to put Labour back in charge of the purse strings? 2) Another interpretation is more chilling. Perhaps many voters though that Labour’s spending did not go far enough and want even more uncontrolled spending plus taxes on wealth! Go figure! New Zealand is critically short of so called wealthy people; people who own businesses, employ staff, spend on cars, boats, aeroplanes and other “toys”, all of which create employment for upkeep. To penalise these people, and I am not one of them, is likely to drive them out of the country. Voters need to have a major reality check and stop the unchecked envy which is grossly unproductive. | Peter |
| NATIONAL | Judith |
| National do not deserve my party vote | Don |
| Nat and ACT | Cookie |
| This gives me the best chance of securing a governing body that will not print more money to balance the books. | Mark |
| C – National P – Act | Les |
| I am not confident in that our mmp and maori seats are in the best intetest of what is loosely called democracy. The number of parlementairians have and are growing out of proportion to the size of our society. Aiding the complexity of our public service. Too many sheeple and greedy people about now. | Leonard |
| We CANNOT afford to let the left into power. | Raphael |
| Considering 2 ticks Act, only party that seem fiscally responsible. All the others will spend us all into Hell. | John |
| I was going to do this anyway. Not for the reason of 900000 wasted votes but because I am unhappy with Nationals slow progress on removing co-governance and their stance on climate change. | Grant |
| Same as last time. Candidate National Party Act | terrence |
| I want ACT to win but they’re not likely to win a constituency seat in my constituency, so I will vote for the National candidate and Party vote ACT. | Peter |
| We live in hope his strategy may keep us heading in the right direction as a nation! | Caroline |
| Definitely split, WE MUST PLAY THE MAORI PARTY AT THEIR OWN GAME. Alls fair in love and war and we are at war with the maori party as they play dirty to take over our country Not one of the left parties have New Zealands Interests at heart. They are all communists like their former leader living in exile. SO VOTE NATIONAL FOR YOUR ELECTORATE VOTE AND ACT OR NZ FIRST FOR YOUR PARTY VOTE. ” WE CAN DO THIS “ | Kevan |
| May need to split my vote to get the current coalition back into government. | Kent |
| Dopey thing about Luxon & Co. is they’ve sacrificed about 15% of their support to win over 5% swing voters. But with a bottom line of Climate Paris he’s got an eye on his post political career not the best interests of our country. | Max |
| I will be giving my vote to both the Act party and the same to the Act candidate. National under Luxon’s leadership is pathetic, and while he is the leader, National will never get my vote! | Peter |
| What a pity we can’t form a govt. From selected Nats and Labour. A Labour plus Greens plus TPM would be a disaster for the country!! | Anthony |
| I dont really wish to vote for numpty Mcallum in Northland, however the option of Willow-Jean Potato head or Kapa-Kingi is too scary…understand voting for ACT or NZ First is wasted. So National for Electorate; party vote ACT or NZ First. Anything to keep the marxist Greens & Tea Pati Maori away from government The concern is National voters playing ball with this concept – they need to be fully on board to make it happen | Mark |
| I am splitting my vote as a result of Luxon not supporting the Treaty Principles Bill | Linda |
| Party vote National, Electoral vote NZ First. | Wayne |
| Will vote for national and party vote to act National too soft and slow on many issues | tony |
| However I do not like the MMP system | John |
| Anything to keep the loonies out | Bob |
| My local Party candidates are all MIA. The independent gets my vote. | Elizabeth |
| Simple logic to do so. | Jim |
| The other parties apart from National have no idea of building the economy, the prosperity of all taxpayers and the well-being of NZ. They will bankrupt the country and destroy the recovering finances of NZ. Led by Labour they will continue to borrow and tax their way into another disaster. | CHRIS |
| I know ACT will not win in my region so best option and then Party vote act. We need ACT the only party with some balls. | Andrew |
| Party Vote Act or NZ First -electoral Vote national- don’t waste party votes on National | John |
| Act party vote. Louise National | Rod. |
| Best strategic use of my 2votes | Laurie |
| Makes sense to me | Frank |
| Act for both, National is not an option for me | James |
| I’ll do anything to ensure the left block don’t get into government otherwise the country is stuffed. | Lawrie |
| So long as the socialists, who do so much human damage and threaten everything we hold dear, are excluded. | Ray |
| i split my vote in the last election and will do the same again in this election, and i will encourage my friends to do there same | Warren david |
| National did not listen to their voters in 2023, and so deserve party votes to go to ACT and NZ First. However they are not as bad as Labour, so I will still vote for my National candidate even though she is towing Luxons line. To me, that is the best way of keeping Labour out. Co-governance and Maorification need to be dealt with FIRMLY. | Greg |
| double tick, because our strong national candidate/seat, will not miss our vote! ACT and NZ First must get a bigger share to change the direction/decline of NZ. | Sam |
| Not impressed with National performance in Government. | Geoffrey |
| Very disillusion with our Politicians. Across all parties. However do feel for coalition as they have and still do have a great mess to clean up. MSM is extremely biased against them. God have mercy on this Nation | Dianne |
| My electorate boundary has changed, so after reading and following a lot on how it works, I feel comfortable doing it. The last full Labour government did severe damage to New Zealand (and the coalition is slowly righting it and them to continue to do so). So we can’t have a repeat of the left side. New Zealand will go down the gurgler. | Jackie |
| I think my Electoral vote to National & my Party vote to ACT is the best I can do to hold off the Labour Bloc | Peter |
| It would be stupid not to. Who wants the Looney Left back in office? | John |
| I have split my vote several times | Peter |
| Will do. Always have done. The numbers don’t lie. | Mike |
| North Shore. Split in 23. No ACT candidate. Now we have a candidate. | Elaine |
| A Labour-led Government in 2026 would be catastrophic for New Zealand’s future, both financially and for its social fabric. This election is a critical point in our history. They must be sidelined. | DAVID |
| I live in a safe Nat seat. Since 1996 I have voted for my Nat candidate given my Party vote to ACT. | Grant |
| My usual party vote would be wasted – and frankly is undeserved anyway. | Fred |
| Have done this before. Thought it wasn’t so unusual | Deborah |
| got to keep this govt in power | Michael |
| A split vote is a wasted vote as far as I’m concerned. I have always seen that the party I want to govern is the same party that vote as my member vote is the same to ensure I get the electorate vote I want i.e.. The party I want to govern. | Carl S |
| National left wing leanings towards breaking up co operative enterprises goes completely against what they used to stand for. | John |
| Have done all the time | Steve |
| MMP is a farce! But it is what we have so splitting your vote is a no-brainer | Hewitt |
| First time ever! | Barbara |
| Center right must hold on | john |
| Its the only way to make sure Labour and its cronies don’t get elected | Marilyn |
| Did it last time and will do it again. This helped change Roskill last time and hopefully Henderson this year | Graeme |
| I have split my vote in the past but i want a minor party to have more power under coalition agreements so one party gets my vote. | Ken |
| NZF seat & ACT party vote | SHANE |
| It’s logical. | Kevin |
| I’ve lost my trust in ALL politicians promises.Once in Govt.they ignore what they have promised & just do what they want | Cindy |
| The left must be kept out | James |
| I have previously voted Nat in Palm Nth electorate and Party vote NZ First. National have lost any trust I had, so I will vote NZ First for both votes on the basis of trust | Roger |
| Like I did last election | Kerry |
| It’s a no brainer, don’t waste your party vote split it. | Tony |
| Have done the last two elections | Greg |
| Not sure which way to vote YET | William & Denise |
| get rid of MMP too many people in parliament, spoiling & costing the country! | Chris |
| Party vote ACT. Candidate vote National in New Plymouth. | Geoffrey |
| I do not want this MMP system anymore, first pat the post has always been the BEST !! | Pierre |
| We should have a box for preferred coalition, which would mean this strategic gerrymandering/ compromise merely becomes honest. | Lawrence |
| You’ve explained it well enough in your column,unravelling MMP. What needs to happen now is the abolition of the 4 maori seats, as per the original MMP setup was supposed to do. Things might start to become a bit more equitable, then | Trevor |
| Stay with who I know. | Murray |
| Last time I voted it was for National ,worrying about the drop kick partys ie TPM and Greens ,so was convinced it was essential to safely vote National ,sadly I must change my vote to ACT as National have failed to produce results we so desperately need to have a sustainable and fair government . | Ray |
| no brainer | Michael |
| National and its coalition partners have managed to start the recovery – they must be given the opportunity to continue. | Anne |
| I split my vote at the last elections but am not sure about the 2026 one. We have a weak Prime Minister with probably good intentions but he won’t stand up to the Maori party and send them the message they need — and the same for the Greens. One thing we do not need however is for New Zealanders to vote in Labour as while they are not too bad by themselves we don’t want them combined with the Greens and Maori — a disaster for the Country will eventuate. | Alan |
| Did so last time too. | Patrick |
| It makes good sense. | William |
| For the first time ever, I’m not voting. I do not support this corrupt system. None of these clowns represent my wishes. | Grant |
| A hung Parliament is a huge probability and NZ Cannot afford this cost!!! | DAVID |
| Hopefully to ensure a right leaning government. | Carol |
| In my electorate it’s Nat or Lab to win, forget the rest. I quite like the Nat MP we have at the moment so will vote for him. Party vote – still deciding between ACT and NZF | Barend |
| I always have. Good strategy by ACT supporters. National have always believed they were born to rule and often spent more tie attacking the likely coalition partners than attacking Labour and the other Lefties. Wake up National!!!! | Duncan |
| National is my natural voting home but their current propensity to try and placate issues like climate change and weak views on democracy will probably push my party vote to NZ First. | Kevin |
| National siting member and party vote to Act | Rosco |
| Not sure yet | Mike |
| Strengthen centre-right vote | Vaughn |
| Natioanl NZ First | Jason |
| I have done this for years. | Michael |
| Anything to get the Right bloc to win | TVR |
| Most definitely, like I did last election. | robin |
| Anyone opposed to the loopy left must vote candidate National and party vote Act or NZ First. Ensuring the loopy left parties are not in power is the most important thing in NZ at the moment. | Pete |
| The casino of politics” is in full swing. The Lotto of Life and Wealth Destruction is all we get in NZ. | Chris |
| Have done this since MMP came in. | Richard |
| Return the coalition! | Carol |
| ACT as I can’t trust Winston given he looked after himself & not the country when he secured Jacinda’s last term & destroyed the country. Luxon has been an absolute failure & I trust National is reduced to a minor party along with Chippys Labour. | John |
| Undecided on the party vote as yet – ACT has underwhelmed me and distrust of Peters still lingers. National electorate vote is a ‘hold my nose’ and try to oust the incumbent leftie. | Deb |
| Have done so for years | John |
| This is a no brainer. Split it – Party vote the smaller 2 parties, electorate vote the other unless another candidate is excetional on the right. | Laurine |
| As much as I dont want to see more political seats through potential overhang…. It makes perfect sence if we want to give the minor parties more political clout. National lost my long standing vote couple cycles back… | Alex |
| I have lost trust in hapless National thus I will cast my two votes split between Act and NZ First. | Stuart |
| Yes, this seems to be the wisest way to go this year. | Judi |
| Keep the lefties out at all costs | Peter |
| Look forward to see ACT have more power. | Harvey |
| Cant have a Labour led coalition,would be catastrophic and the right needs a strong leader not an appeaser | Phil |
| The well being of our country is Nothing to be trifled with by playing stupid games for politicians. | Max |
| Have split vote Nat/Act since MMP began | Barbara |
| Always have done this | Sharen |
| It’s the only way for a centre right victory | John |
| Have done this since MMP was introduced. | Karen |
| Party vote going to ACT | Donna |
| I am moving from National to support the ACT and NZF parties | Derek |
| Have done since the inception of MMP! | Michael |
| I have always vote split. It’s strange to me the concept is new to some. It’s vital this election National voters vote split otherwise a left coalition of chaos will tax us and the country to the poorhouse and set the country on the road to Maori rule and thus Third World status. | John |
| Lodgical | Dave |
| A party vote for National is a wasted vote, so choose wisely if you want a centre right Govt. | Rod |
| Have split in last 2 elections already. Electorate National, party vote ACT. | John |
| Not sure about National at all. Running with the dogs and hunting with the hares. I am not happy with National on a lot of their doings , promises, and just what they are up too I can’t trust them | ROB |
| I have in every MMP election | Alex |
| National are total arrogant idiots for not backing coalition partners Candidate vote National, party vote NZ First or ACT | Terry |
| I split my vote in the last election and I intend doing it again, this election. National has not done what it promised to do in the last election – and that was to sort out this racial nonsense, so, I’m hoping that Act will do the job. | Don |
| As I have previously. | Roger |
| Act & vote strategically to return the coalition govt to power. | Phil |
| I have often split my votes. | Anthony |
| the party I have always voted for is no longer a good fit | Yvonne |
| Keep the commies out | Dennis |
| Party vote Act candidate vote National. pure and simple. | Francis |
| Electorate national, party Act | John |
| Want a combination of flexibility and clarity. | Murray |
| he iwi tahi tatou. we are one people. | Mal |
| If the country is so distressingly stupid to give National two ticks we deserve the Labour Green Maori Top rabble | Mick |
| Will help keep National honest and prevent a wasted vote | Bernie |
| Clearly needed to counter risks of left policies | Bruce |
| And I split last time too | Hilary |
| I have been planning to do this for a long time. | Heather |
| I always have done | mike |
| why not????? | ARTHUR |
| How can this strategic voting message be got out to all the right wing voters? This will be a very critical election | Rebecca |
| Hate to see the left get back in control, conversely, Baldy has done sweet bugger all to court my conservative vote, and a party vote national is saying we support you sitting on your arose and having businesses go broke due to the cost of power | sam |
| Always have split the vote. | Bazza |
| NZ First. Go Winston. You are the man! | Mike |
| Decision will be based on how the polls go between now and polling day. | Rod |
| Yes, I intend. to spilt my vote. | Peter |
| NZ first electorate and ACT party | Greg |
| No brainer. | Ian |
| National candidate and act party | Fiona |
| National candidate Act party vote | Deane |
| I’ll swallow the proverbial dead rat to help National keep Labour out in my electorate but use my party vote for the party whose policies I much prefer and which I believe may do much more than National to bury co-governance and Maorification. Not holding my breath though as even they may not realise just how important this is to NZ’s future. | Doug |
| Vote for sitting national MP and party vote NZ first. | Alan |
| Act party vote National candidate vote | Brian |
| Have done so since 1996 Electorate National Party ACT | Warren |
| Seems to be the only answer to solve a problem created by a weak system. | Andrew |
| Ditch the maori seats past use by now with their party. | mike. |
| Need to current mob BACK IN | Rick |
| I have no choice unfortunately No local party candidate so will vote for next best but party vote definitely ACT. | Barbara |
| Sounds like Mickey Mouse rules NZ | Heather |
| I no can no longer can vote for national party in sans conscience. They let me now enormously. Until they stop wasting my money on climate change, terminate any dreams of co-governance, kill the Maori seats and Maori role, close the Waitangui Tribunal, delete any relevance of the Treaty from all legislations, job descriptions, make the name of any public institutions having the name in English first in bigger letters, delete any reference to the treaty on job descriptions and advertisements stop having Maori advisors in public institutions, stop the singing of karakias at public workplaces and have all funding based on need, all universities entrance based on merit, have the same privileges for all citizens, I will NEVER vote for them again. | Luciane |
| Split my Vote because there is no Part member for the Party I vote in my Electorate. Sad very sad !! | Geoff |
| Vote for local MP and party vote elsewhere | Laurence |
| Both National and Labour have failed the country in recent elections | ian |
| Absolutely, Definitely, Positively splitting my vote – the only way to make MMP work in our favour for a change! Doesn’t matter if you feel let down by Luxon and National – hold your nose and give them your Electorate vote and do some serious damage to the left-wing Labour Socialists, the Communist Greenie Freaks, the Part Maori Party and TOP – the Fascists in sheeps clothing, by giving your Party vote to ACT or NZ First, who will put it to good use! | Scott |
| Absolutely NOT. | Murray |
| I am now in a Labour electorate so won%u2019t be voting that way so definitely splitting my vote | David |
| I want ACT & NZF to have greater influence on Nationals direction and policies | Glen |
| Absolutely need to. Need local National candidate elected. But ACT needs more MPs who are so effective as are REAL people. | Steve |
| Always have. Electorate National . Party ACT | Paul |
| No, because there is only one good party anyway. | Scott. |
| Likely National/ NZF or Act, do not want Labour in again. | Kylie |
| I am disillusioned with National but know we cant afford to lose them altogether. I will vote National for my electorate vote and NZF for my party vote. We need a new Party and leader similar to the Australian one nation polocies | Neil |
| Nat then ACT party | Robbie |
| I have split my vote in every election since 1996 with the exception of 2014 when I gave National 2 ticks. Party Vote every other time to ACT. | pdm |
| I always split vote – have done for many elections | Vic |
| Chris for the Hutt electorate and NZF or possibly ACT for my party vote | David |
| I know which Party I support but not which candidate in my electorate. | Martin |
| anything else means the result will not be representative. | James |
| National for electate vote NZ First for Party | Patrick |
| National has not delivered | Malcolm |
| What a load of mumbo jumbo. Back to fpp, please!. | John |
| Yes, I probably will this time. | Kelly |
| 100% to the current coalition partners. | Andrew |
| I think it is time we went back to FPP as we are getting to big a rabble in Parliament | Colin |
| A must to retain this current coalition otherwise we will be in serious political trouble !!!! Having the Greens and/or Te Pati Maori in Govt. would be a disaster for New Zealand going forward. It MUST NOT happen. Vote wisely. !! | Andrew |
| Hopefully the centre right voter( are there enough in this socialist state?) will think twice before FE0Fblue | Siobain |
| I hoped that would help a coalition as we have be retained | Russ |
| Southland is a safe seat for National, so it is a no brainer to party vote for either NZ1St or ACTNZ. | Ian |
| I never vote for makor parties so I just work out from the smaller parties who would help most in coalition. | Barbara |
| The current coalition must prevail ,the alternative would be appalling | gale |
| I will support my local National candidate because I reside in a marginal seat ( Hamilton West) but my party vote will be going to Act. National simply cannot be trusted to make the policy and directive changes required to return New Zealand to a true democracy and rid the country of the scourge of co-governance. | Chris |
| National Electorate plus a Coalition Partner | Peter |
| I am as confused as Confucius | Warren |
| NZ First party vote, Act electorate vote. I don’t trust my National electorate MP who will be returned regardless. | David |
| National has let us down badly and we will not vote for them. We will vote ACT both votes. | Tom |
| It’s the logical way to have a National led coalition | John |
| I AM A NATIONAL SUPPORTER WILL GIVE ACT MY PARTY VOTE AND GIVE MY ELECTORATE VOTE TO NATIONAL | TONY |
| using the word wasted is a misdirection and smacks of MSM propaganda | Collin |
| Playing games with my democratic choice of political Group is not clever. | Max |
| We need a referendum on MMP to much gaming by Politicians | frank |
| National voters need 2 ticks to get highest party vote against Labour. Dont accept your biased advice (to get higher ACT party vote) 900k Natinal votes not wasted. Act and NZF party voters for sure should split their vote for a National electorate MP as all ACT & NZF come off list. That will cause desired offhang without compromise National Party vote (Opportunity will talk to highest party, which could be National without vote splits) | Paul |
| Party vote ACT & electorate vote to be decided.!! | Ron |
| I did at the last election as well. | Lucy |
| Party vote only. | Richard |
| Spread the word | Glenn |
| Strategic voting is essential if the centre right is to be returned to the treasury benches .its a no brainer | Geoff |
| I believe that’s the right way to vote. | Gavin |
| Annoyed with National but don’t want Left Coalition. | Graham |
| Act national | Beryl |
| Undecided at this point | Christine |
| I will split my vote, with National getting the electorate vote but I am very unhappy with the lackluster performance of the National candidate I am going to have to vote in. | Simon |
| Got to keep the looney lefties out if we want NZ to survive. | Peter |
| Voting National | Kylie |
| We need a strong National vote to get the coalition over the line | Barry |
| Muriel made me do iy! | John |
| My electorate is a National Party stronghold, so a vote for another party would have no effect on the result, unless there was a massive swing against National. | Grant |
| It makes sense to use the system to produce the preferred outcome. | Rob |
| I see on Facebook that some ACT voters intend to give both votes to ACT. I hope they read this article. | Chuck |
| Did it last time too. Party vote ACT. Electorate vote National | John |
| I have always split my vote – nats electorate, Act party | Nicol |
| I like my electoral Candidate and my preferred party which is different | Michsel |
| It is the logical thing to do | David |
| Absolutely two ticks ACT! | Peter |
| Did it last time too. The more influence NZF and ACT have the better for the country | Dave |
| Did the same last time. | Pete |
| I have little faith that NZ has a bright future. | John |
| I live in Whangarei. I intend to give my electorate vote to National and my party vote to ACT. However I am concerned that the local Labour party candidate is running a very strong campaign and could beat our new National candidate. How does NZCPR view this race. | Ken |
| Voting for Cameron Luxton ACT Mt Maunganui Electorate vote, and NZFirst for Party Vote! | Brian |
| The minor rightparties will benefit | Gavin |
| I have split my vote before giving my party vote to Act and I will definitely do so again this time. | Trevor |
| I am voting ACT, National/ luxton have proven to have no balls, don’t trust Peters, a political sl*t, act the only one that has done what they stood on/for | Andrew |
| Party vote nzf | Ian |
| Not sure I understand the rationale in MMP but allowing mission creep to 128 seats is getting out of hand both democratically and financially | Gareth |
| Always have | Daz |
| Keep out the left | Gaye |
| This election is an important one for re election of the coalition Government who in my opinion are doing what is necessary to improve our economic downturn and return us to growth! | June |
| Dont fudge the issue | Dr Bryan |
| Always have. | Evans |
| Why do that | Christine |
| NZF party; Nat electorate | Sarah |
| I have split my vote for 30 years. Could never vote for Labour and National are just too stupid to deserve 2 ticks especially for them asking people to waste votes with 2 ticks | Chris |
| Party vote Act. Wonder if Nat and Lab would go into a grand coalition to thwart the will of the public they obviously despise? Some voters may unwittingly be choosing Marxism or Tribalism. TPM wants oversight of a democratically elected government mumbo jumbo on steroids! | Peter |
| Splitting your vote, makes perfect sense.If you want the same coalition kept in, give your party vote to ACT,or N.Z FIRST, and yourelectorate vote to national, or DOUBLE UP FOR THE SAME PARTY! | David |
| Good article Muriel. | Sam |
| I vote for the hard working Nat MP and get a bonus of strong policy holding the Centre from moving left by PV Act | Glenn |
| Yes, the left have been doing it for years. Vote national, give your party vote to Act or NZ First and we can beat the left loonies at their own game. SPREAD THE WORD! | Allan |
| we need to | Neville |
| VOTERS SHOULD ALWAYS VOTE TACTICALLY, UNDER THE PROPORTIONAL, VOTING SYSTEM….. tHAT WAS HOW IT WAS MEANT TO WORK,M.M.P CAN BE FURTHER REFINED, BECAUSE THERE ARE OTHER SYSTEMS OF P.R. THAT WORK BETTER, SO MAYBE, WE SHOULD HAVE ANOTHER REFERENDUM….?? | David |
| always have | Basil |
| YES, VOTING STRATEGICALY IS A MUST, WE HAVE TO KEEP THE CRAZY LEFT MOB OUT, DON,T LET THEM GET BACK IN..! SO IT MAKES SENSE TO MAKE YOOUR 2 VOTES GO AS FAR AS POSSIBLE VOTE FOR ACT, OR N.Z FIRST, WITH THE PARTY VOTE OR TWO TICKS, ACT, OR N.Z FIRST. | David |
| Electorate – National. Party vote – ACT. May the good guys win! | Rodger |
| Most certainly. Only thing to do. | Gordon |
| Very important. | Ray |
| Always do. Essential in order to retain centre-right Government. | Lenice |
| Always do | Lenice |
| We need to keep the current coalition in power- Party vote for either ACT or NZ First and electoral vote for National- the alternative left block will destroy us completely and take us into Third world idelogical fantasy land. | John |
| Most certainly, boundary changes have placed me in a labour stronghold. | David |
| I am not wasting a vote on National and opening the gate to Labour. This is the only time the voter has any authority and I intend to speak up. A serious party vote swing to NZF & Act is the country’s only hope. I am not impressed with Nationals antics and performance/mindset and want to send a very clear message as well when I vote. National/Labour have had their time & look at the state of NZ. No more. I am voting NZF in hope the country forces change. I also want an end to Iwi takeover and Act are not strong enough to see it through. NZF has drive & ambition for NZ that no one else is offering. NZ desperately needs to change its long-term course so I am giving NZF the chance to prove themselves. I want a profound upset in this election the Parties will not soon forget and hope thinking NZers do to. | brett |
| What’s the point of having two votes if strategic voting wasn’t intended?? | Alan |
| I will definitely be voting strategically, l am terrified the left block will get back in. If they do get back in that will mean cogovernance here we come. | Paul |
| Strategic voting is the only way to prevent a disaster at this election, so yes, I’m in, boots and all! | David |
| The numbers in this article are revealing, I will definitely be telling others. | Murray |
| We’ve all done strategic voting before, but not usually with our party votes. But, as has been explained, these are exceptional circumstances. The challenge is whether enough voters will understand to make a real difference. | Paul |
| This message needs to be spread far and wide! | Beth |
| National isn’t going to tell supporters to give their party vote to ACT and NZ First, so it will be up to supporters to spread the message themselves. Similarly ACT and NZ First may not be keen on telling supporters to vote for National candidates so again it will be up to centre-right supporters to make sure everyone understands what’s at stake. | Simon |