This page describes and links to the various MMP understanding research reports available on the Elections New Zealand website.  Click on the blue headings to access the full reports.

MMP understanding - 2007 tracking research

The Electoral Commission says its latest survey shows those involved in politics need to make it more interesting to average and young New Zealand if more are to vote in elections, and MPs in particular need to do more to explain what their job involves to an uncertain public.  “Just 38% of us claim to have a good idea about what Members of Parliament do,” says commission chief executive Dr Helena Catt reporting its latest MMP understanding survey results, “and there’s still a real mix of attitudes towards list MPs including a lot of neutral or uncertain views”.

MMP understanding - NZES survey 2005

The Electoral Commission vision is that New Zealand’s electoral framework and processes are widely used, understood, trusted and valued.Of course many others, as well as the Electoral Commission, have a role in reaching this vision. Using data from the 2005 New Zealand Election Study postal survey we report on current levels and how they compare to 2002.  This data, and more detailed analysis used to identify target groups, will be used in planning the Electoral Commission’s education and information work.

MMP understanding - post-election monitor 2005

The levels of understanding fit within historic patterns.  The question wording has been changed overtime so that some differences will be due to these changes.  There is a recurrent cycle of the number saying that they don’t know decreasing after the election.  The overall trend is that over time the numbers giving the wrong answer has declined.  The results fit the normal cyclical pattern and do not raise any immediate concerns.

MMP understanding - pre-election monitor 2005

A majority of people think that MMP is easy to understand, twice as many as think that it is difficult.  The majority of people understand and remember that the party vote is the one that determines the share for each party in Parliament.  This is the highest level in a pre-election poll since the first MMP election. Annual surveys on this question show an ebb and flow with the highest levels for correct answers immediately after an election and the lowest in the mid-year of the election cycle.  This survey's results fit that pattern. However, of concern are:

• The quarter of respondents who think incorrectly that the electorate vote determines the share of seats each party has in parliament.
• The three-quarters of respondents who can not correctly identify both parts of the threshold
• That less than a fifth of respondents could correctly identify the party vote as the one that determines the share for each party in Parliament and both parts of the threshold.

This survey also asked whether respondents intended to vote, the information sources likely to be used in reaching a voting decision, and about their general attitudes to politics (efficacy).

MMP understanding - 2003 monitor (including data since 1993)

From 1993-2003 the Electoral Commission tracked public understanding of key aspects of MMP in regular monitors conducted by Colmar Brunton social research agency.  The 2003 report is downloadable.  It includes summary data from earlier years.  The commission did not conduct a monitor in 2004 due to the settled and predictable trends for non-election years and competing resource priorities.