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{{short description|Voting districts for election to the New Zealand Parliament}}{{Use New Zealand English|date=April 2024}}{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}{{Politics of New Zealand |expanded=Elections}}An electorate or electoral district (WEB, Ngā MP, rohe pōti,www.parliament.nz/mi/mps-and-electorates/, www.parliament.nz, New Zealand Parliament, 16 October 2023, mi, ) is a geographic constituency used for electing a member ({{abbr|MP|member of parliament}}) to the New Zealand Parliament.WEB, Electoral Act 1993 No 87 (as at 01 July 2016), Public Act Contents,www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1993/0087/latest/DLM307519.html, www.legislation.govt.nz, New Zealand Legislation, 9 February 2017, en-NZ, The size of electorates is determined such that all electorates have approximately the same population.Before 1996, all MPs were directly chosen for office by the voters of an electorate. In New Zealand’s electoral system, 72 of the usually 120 seats in Parliament are filled by electorate members, with the remainder being filled from party lists in order to achieve proportional representation among parties. The 72 electorates are made up from 65 general and seven Māori electorates. The number of electorates increases periodically in line with national population growth; the number was increased from 71 to 72 starting at the 2020 general election.

Terminology

The Electoral Act 1993 refers to electorates as “electoral districts”. Electorates are informally referred to as “seats” (), but technically the term seat refers to an elected member’s place in Parliament.See WEB, Terminology,www.parliament.tas.gov.au/tpl/Backg/Terminology.htm, www.parliament.tas.gov.au, 6 March 2022, Historically the only way to gain a seat in Parliament was to win an electorate, but under the present MMP system, MPs selected from party lists—called list MPs—are able to gain a seat without representing an electorate.

Distribution

{{As of|2018}} the Representation Commission determines electorate boundaries.WEB, Representation Commission,www.elections.org.nz/voting-system/electorates/electorate-boundaries-and-review/representation-commission, elections.org.nz, Electoral Commission (New Zealand), 9 February 2017, en,web.archive.org/web/20190122024506/https://www.elections.org.nz/voting-system/electorates/electorate-boundaries-and-review/representation-commission, 22 January 2019, dead, The Commission consists of:

• Four government officials—the Government Statistician, the Surveyor-General, the Chief Electoral Officer, and the Chairperson of the Local Government Commission.
• A representative of the governing party or coalition, and a representative of the opposition bloc.
• A chairperson (often a judge) nominated by the other members (with the exception of Chairperson of the Local Government Commission).

The Representation Commission reviews electorate boundaries after each New Zealand census, which normally occurs every five years. The South Island is guaranteed to have 16 general electorates, and dividing the number of persons in the South Island’s general electoral population by 16 determines the South Island Quota which is then used to help calculate the number of Māori electorates and to determine the number of North Island electorates. The number of Māori electorates is influenced by the Māori Electoral Option where Māori voters can opt to be in either a Māori electorate or a general electorate. The percentage of Māori voters opting for the Māori roll determines the percentage of the whole Māori population (of persons claiming Māori ancestry at the previous census) which is then divided by the South Island Quota to calculate the number of Māori electorates. South Island Māori opting for the general roll are included in the population on which the South Island Quota is established. The North Island population (including Māori opting for the general roll) is divided into electorates, each of approximately the same population as the South Island ones.WEB, Calculating future Māori and General Electorates,www.elections.org.nz/events/2013-electorate-boundary-review/calculating-future-maori-and-general-electorates, Electoral Commission (New Zealand), 2 October 2013, 1 October 2013,www.elections.org.nz/events/2013-electorate-boundary-review/calculating-future-maori-and-general-electorates," title="web.archive.org/web/20131005022643www.elections.org.nz/events/2013-electorate-boundary-review/calculating-future-maori-and-general-electorates,">web.archive.org/web/20131005022643www.elections.org.nz/events/2013-electorate-boundary-review/calculating-future-maori-and-general-electorates, 5 October 2013, dead, Electorates may vary by no more than 5% of the average population size. This has caused the number of list seats in Parliament to decline as the population is experiencing “northern drift” (i.e. the population of the North Island, especially around Auckland, is growing faster than that of the South Island) due both to internal migration and to immigration.WEB, Proportion of electorate seats to list seats,www.elections.org.nz/sites/default/files/bulk-upload/documents/Proportionality_submissions.pdf, elections.org.nz, Electoral Commission, 9 February 2017,web.archive.org/web/20190125034625/https://www.elections.org.nz/sites/default/files/bulk-upload/documents/Proportionality_submissions.pdf, 25 January 2019, dead, Although the New Zealand Parliament is intended to have 120 members, some terms have exceeded this quantity. Overhang seats arise when a party win more seats via electorates than their proportion of the party vote entitles them to; other parties are still awarded the same number of seats that they are entitled to, which results in more than 120 seats in total.BOOK, Mixed-Member Electoral Systems: the best of both worlds?, 2001, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 0191528978, 24, In 2005 and 2011, 121 members were elected; 122 members were elected in 2008.WEB,www.elections.org.nz/sites/default/files/bulk-upload/documents/Overhang.pdf, Overhang, elections.org.nz, Electoral Commission, 9 February 2017,www.elections.org.nz/sites/default/files/bulk-upload/documents/Overhang.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20170502204252www.elections.org.nz/sites/default/files/bulk-upload/documents/Overhang.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20170502204252www.elections.org.nz/sites/default/files/bulk-upload/documents/Overhang.pdf, 2 May 2017, dead,

History

Originally, electorates were drawn up by the Representation Commission based on political and social links, with little consideration for differences in population. Elections for the New Zealand House of Representatives in the 1850s modelled the electoral procedures used for the British House of Commons, which at that time featured both single-member electorates (electorates returning just one MP) and multi-member electorates (electorates returning more than one MP).WEB, Roberts, Nigel S., Electoral systems - Turning votes into seats,www.teara.govt.nz/en/electoral-systems/page-1, (Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand), 9 February 2017, 20 June 2012, Each electorate was allocated a different number of MPs (up to three) in order to balance population differences. All electorates used a plurality voting system.WEB, Roberts, Nigel S., Electoral systems - Turning votes into seats,www.teara.govt.nz/en/electoral-systems/page-1, (Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand), 16 October 2018, 17 February 2015, Both the single-member and the multi-member districts were instances of plurality voting systems, because candidates did not need a majority of the votes (more than half) to be elected. They required only a plurality – more votes than any of the other candidates – to win., From 1881, a special country quota meant that rural seats could contain fewer people than urban seats, preserving improportionality by over-representing farmers.BOOK, Atkinson, Neill, Adventures in democracy: a history of the vote in New Zealand, 2003, University of Otago Press, Dunedin, 76, 9781877276583,books.google.com/books?id=_CG4AAAAIAAJ, {{request quotation|date=October 2018}} For the 1905 election the multi-member electorates were abolished. The quota system persisted until 1945.Because of the increasing North Island population, the Representation Commission awarded the North Island an additional electoral seat beginning in the 2008 general election.WEB,www.elections.org.nz/sites/default/files/2007%20Representation%20Commission%20Report.pdf, Report of the Representation Commission, 2007, 2007, elections.org.nz, Representation Commission, 4, 3 September 2014,web.archive.org/web/20190123193826/https://www.elections.org.nz/sites/default/files/2007%20Representation%20Commission%20Report.pdf, 23 January 2019, dead, Another new North Island seat was added for the 2014 general election,WEB,www.elections.org.nz/events/electorate-boundary-review/final-electorate-boundaries/2014-electorate-boundaries-key-changes, 2014 Electorate Boundaries - Key Changes, 17 April 2014, elections.org.nz, Electoral Commission, 3 September 2014,web.archive.org/web/20190126021123/https://www.elections.org.nz/events/electorate-boundary-review/final-electorate-boundaries/2014-electorate-boundaries-key-changes, 26 January 2019, dead, and again for the 2020 general election (with one new electorate in Auckland).WEB, What are electorates?,www.parliament.nz/en/visit-and-learn/parliament-in-election-year/what-are-electorates/, www.parliament.nz, New Zealand Parliament, 6 March 2022, en-NZ, 17 April 2020, In the 2020 general election, there will be seven Māori electorates and 65 general electorates—including one new electorate in Auckland., Each time, the need for an additional seat was determined from the results of the most recent New Zealand census, with the seat coming out of the total number of list seats. The total number of list seats has thus declined from 55 to 48 since the introduction of mixed-member proportional voting in the 1996 general election.

Naming conventions

The Representation Commission determines the names of each electorate following the most recent census. An electorate may be named after a geographic region, landmark (e.g. a mountain) or main population area. The Commission adopts compass point names when there is not a more suitable name. The compass point reference usually follows the name of the main population centre, e.g. Hamilton East.

Special electorates

{{further|topic=the historic qualifications required to vote|Voting in New Zealand}}Over the years, there have been two types of “special” electorates created for particular communities. The first were special goldminers’ electorates, created for participants in the Otago Goldrush—goldminers did not usually meet the residency and property requirements in the electorate they were prospecting in, but were numerous enough to warrant political representation. Two goldminers’ electorates existed, the first began in 1863 and both ended in 1870.

Māori electorates

Much more durable have been the Māori electorates, created in 1867 to give separate representation to Māori. Although originally intended to be temporary, they came to function as reserved positions for Māori until 1967, ensuring that there would always be a Māori voice in Parliament. In 1967 the reserved status of the Māori seats was removed, allowing non-Māori to stand in the Māori electorates, thus removing any guarantee that Māori would be elected to Parliament. Until 1993 the number of Māori electorates was fixed at four, significantly under-representing Māori in Parliament. In 1975 the definition of who could opt to register on either the general or the Māori roll was expanded to include all persons of Māori descent.WEB,www.nzlii.org/nz/legis/hist_act/eaa19751975n28210/, Electoral Amendment Act 1975, 10 March 2014, Previously all persons of more than 50% Māori ancestry were on the Māori roll while persons of less than 50% Māori ancestry were required to enrol on the then European roll. Only persons presumed to have equal Māori and European ancestry (so-called half-castes) had a choice of roll.WEB,www.nzlii.org/nz/legis/hist_act/ea19561956n107130/, Electoral Act, 1956, 10 March 2014, Since the introduction of MMP, the number of seats can change with the number of Māori voters who choose to go on the Māori roll rather than the general roll.

Electorates in the 54th Parliament

(File:2023 New Zealand electorates A.svg|thumb|400px|New Zealand electorates used since 2023, showing 2023 election results)This table shows the electorates as they were represented during the 54th New Zealand Parliament.

General electorates{| class“sortable wikitable” style@font-size: 95%;”

! Electorate! Region!Namesake! MP! colspan=“2” | Party

Auckland Central}}	Auckland		Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand}}

Banks Peninsula (New Zealand electorate)>Banks Peninsula	Banks Peninsula		New Zealand National Party}}

Bay of Plenty (New Zealand electorate)>Bay of Plenty	Bay of Plenty		New Zealand National Party}}

Botany (New Zealand electorate)>Botany	Botany Downs		New Zealand National Party}}

|Christchurch Central

Christchurch		New Zealand Labour Party}}

|Christchurch East

Christchurch		New Zealand Labour Party}}

Coromandel (New Zealand electorate)>Coromandel	Coromandel Peninsula		New Zealand National Party}}

Dunedin (New Zealand electorate)>Dunedin	Dunedin		New Zealand Labour Party}}

East Coast (New Zealand electorate)>East Coast	Gisborne and Bay of Plenty	East Coast, New Zealand>East Coast		New Zealand National Party}}

East Coast Bays (New Zealand electorate)>East Coast Bays	|East Coast Bays		New Zealand National Party}}

Epsom (New Zealand electorate)>Epsom		Epsom, New Zealand>Epsom		ACT New Zealand}}

Hamilton East (New Zealand electorate)>Hamilton East		Hamilton, New Zealand>Hamilton		New Zealand National Party}}

Hamilton West (New Zealand electorate)>Hamilton West		Hamilton, New Zealand>Hamilton		New Zealand National Party}}

|Hutt South

Hutt Valley		New Zealand National Party}}

Ilam (New Zealand electorate)>Ilam		Ilam, New Zealand>Ilam		New Zealand National Party}}

Invercargill (New Zealand electorate)>Invercargill	Invercargill		New Zealand National Party}}

Kaikōura (New Zealand electorate)>Kaikōura	Marlborough Region	and Canterbury, New Zealand>Canterbury|Kaikōura		New Zealand National Party}}

|Kaipara ki Mahurangi

|Kaipara Harbour and Mahurangi Harbour		New Zealand National Party}}

Kelston (New Zealand electorate)>Kelston		Kelston, New Zealand>Kelston		New Zealand Labour Party}}

Mana (New Zealand electorate)>Mana		Mana Island (New Zealand)>Mana Island		New Zealand Labour Party}}

Māngere (New Zealand electorate)>Māngere	|Māngere		New Zealand Labour Party}}

Manurewa (New Zealand electorate)>Manurewa	|Manurewa		New Zealand Labour Party}}

Maungakiekie (New Zealand electorate)>Maungakiekie	Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill		New Zealand National Party}}

Mount Albert (New Zealand electorate)>Mt Albert	ÅŒwairaka / Mount Albert		New Zealand Labour Party}}

Mount Roskill (New Zealand electorate)>Mt Roskill		Puketāpapa>Puketāpapa / Mount Roskill		New Zealand National Party}}

Napier (New Zealand electorate)>Napier		Napier, New Zealand>Napier		New Zealand National Party}}

Nelson (New Zealand electorate)>Nelson	Nelson, New Zealand	and Tasman District>Tasman	Nelson, New Zealand>Nelson		New Zealand Labour Party}}

New Lynn (New Zealand electorate)>New Lynn	New Lynn		New Zealand National Party}}

New Plymouth (New Zealand electorate)>New Plymouth	New Plymouth		New Zealand National Party}}

North Shore (New Zealand electorate)>North Shore		North Shore, New Zealand>North Shore		New Zealand National Party}}

Northcote (New Zealand electorate)>Northcote		Northcote, Auckland>Northcote		New Zealand National Party}}

Northland (New Zealand electorate)>Northland	Northland Region		New Zealand National Party}}

Ōhāriu (New Zealand electorate)>Ōhāriu		Ohariu, New Zealand>Ohariu		New Zealand Labour Party}}

Ōtaki (New Zealand electorate)>Ōtaki	Wellington and Manawatū-Whanganui|Ōtaki River		New Zealand National Party}}

Pakuranga (New Zealand electorate)>Pakuranga	Pakuranga		New Zealand National Party}}

Palmerston North (New Zealand electorate)>Palmerston North	Palmerston North		New Zealand Labour Party}}

|Panmure-Ōtāhuhu

	Panmure, New Zealand>Panmure and Ōtāhuhu		New Zealand Labour Party}}

Papakura (New Zealand electorate)>Papakura	|Papakura		New Zealand National Party}}

Port Waikato (New Zealand electorate)>Port Waikato	Auckland and Waikato|Port Waikato		New Zealand National Party}}

Rangitata (New Zealand electorate)>Rangitata	Rangitata River		New Zealand National Party}}

Rangitīkei (New Zealand electorate)>Rangitīkei	Rangitīkei River		New Zealand National Party}}

Remutaka (New Zealand electorate)>Remutaka	Remutaka Range		New Zealand Labour Party}}

Rongotai (New Zealand electorate)>Rongotai	Chatham Islands|Rongotai		Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand}}

Rotorua (New Zealand electorate)>Rotorua	Rotorua		New Zealand National Party}}

Selwyn (New Zealand electorate)>Selwyn	Selwyn River		New Zealand National Party}}

Southland (New Zealand electorate)>Southland	Southland and Otago|Southland Region		New Zealand National Party}}

Taieri (New Zealand electorate)>Taieri	Taieri River		New Zealand Labour Party}}

Takanini (New Zealand electorate)>Takanini	|Takanini		New Zealand National Party}}

Tāmaki (New Zealand electorate)>Tāmaki	Tamaki River		ACT New Zealand}}

|Taranaki-King Country

Taranaki and Waikato	Taranaki>Taranaki region and King Country		New Zealand National Party}}

Taupō (New Zealand electorate)>Taupō	Lake Taupō		New Zealand National Party}}

Tauranga (New Zealand electorate)>Tauranga	Tauranga		New Zealand National Party}}

Te Atatū (New Zealand electorate)>Te Atatū	Te Atatū Peninsula		New Zealand Labour Party}}

Tukituki (New Zealand electorate)>Tukituki	Tukituki River		New Zealand National Party}}

Upper Harbour (New Zealand electorate)>Upper Harbour	|Upper Waitematā Harbour		New Zealand National Party}}

Waikato (New Zealand electorate)>Waikato	Waikato River		New Zealand National Party}}

Waimakariri (New Zealand electorate)>Waimakariri	Waimakariri River		New Zealand National Party}}

Wairarapa (New Zealand electorate)>Wairarapa	Wellington Region	, ManawatÅ«-Whanganui and Hawke’s Bay Region>Hawke’s Bay|Lake Wairarapa		New Zealand National Party}}

Waitaki (New Zealand electorate)>Waitaki	Otago and Canterbury|Waitaki River		New Zealand National Party}}

Wellington Central}}	Wellington		Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand}}

|West Coast-Tasman

West Coast, New Zealand	and Tasman District>Tasman	West Coast, New Zealand>West Coast region and Tasman district		New Zealand National Party}}

Whanganui (New Zealand electorate)>Whanganui	Manawatū-Whanganui and Taranaki|Whanganui River		New Zealand National Party}}

Whangaparāoa (New Zealand electorate)>Whangaparāoa	|Whangaparāoa Peninsula		New Zealand National Party}}

Whangārei (New Zealand electorate)>Whangārei	Whangārei		New Zealand National Party}}

Wigram (New Zealand electorate)>Wigram	Wigram		New Zealand Labour Party}}

Māori electorates{| style@font-size: 95%;” class“sortable wikitable”

!Electorate!Region!Namesake/translation!MP! colspan=“2” |Party|Te Tai Tokerau

Northland and Auckland|“northern district”		Te Pāti Māori}}	Te Pāti Māori>Māori

|Tāmaki Makaurau

Auckland|“Tāmaki desired by many” (the Māori name for Auckland)		Te Pāti Māori}}	Te Pāti Māori>Māori

|Hauraki-Waikato

Auckland and Waikato|Hauraki Gulf and Waikato River		Te Pāti Māori}}	Te Pāti Māori>Māori

Waiariki (New Zealand electorate)>Waiariki	Bay of Plenty and Waikato|“chiefly waters”		Te Pāti Māori}}	Te Pāti Māori>Māori

|Ikaroa-Rāwhiti

Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne, ManawatÅ«-Whanganui and Wellington	North Island>North Island / Te Ika-a-Māui		New Zealand Labour Party}}

|Te Tai Hauāuru

Taranaki, Waikato, ManawatÅ«-Whanganui and Wellington|“western district”		Te Pāti Māori}}	Te Pāti Māori>Māori

|Te Tai Tonga

The South Island, Wellington and the Chatham Islands|“southern district”		Te Pāti Māori}}	Te Pāti Māori>Māori

Abolished electorates

General electorates

Electorates in New Zealand have changed extensively since 1853, typically to meet changing population distributions. Boundaries were last changed in 2019 and 2020 for the 2020 election, with Clutha-Southland, Dunedin North, Dunedin South, Helensville, Hunua, Manukau East, Port Hills and Rodney being abolished and replaced either by new electorates, or by surrounding electoral districts.

Māori electorates

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}

• Eastern Maori
• Hauraki
• Northern Maori
• Southern Maori
• Tainui
• Te Puku O Te Whenua
• Te Tai Rawhiti
• Western Maori

{{div col end}}

Goldminers’ electorates

• Goldfields (1862–1870)
• Gold Field Towns (1865–1870)
• Westland Boroughs (1866–1870)

Explanatory note

{{Reflist|group=“n“}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

• Electoral profiles, produced by the Parliamentary Library, New Zealand Parliament.
• www.elections.org.nz/mapping/" title="web.archive.org/web/20130208035645www.elections.org.nz/mapping/">Map of electorates with boundaries, produced by the Parliamentary Library, run by the Electoral Commission, the Electoral Enrolment Centre, the Representation Commission, and the Justice Sector.

{{Electorates of New Zealand}}{{Historic electorates of New Zealand}}{{Parliament of NZ}}