J and I became permanent residents of NZ last August, and we immediately registered to vote, being thrilled to have that right. Also, NZ puts a lot of effort into getting people to register, and sends letter after letter telling you that you need to register if you have not. So it was also nice to get those letters to stop.
I have to admit, before launching into this post about elections and politics, that this is not a strong suit of mine. In fact, calling it a weakness would still be an understatement. I know that my vote is largely based on education and environmental issues, and I know who I need to vote for to support those things, and I don't know much else. That was true in the States, and is equally true here. This post will, therefore, be link-heavy, as I feel that it's better to refer you to sources than to try to sound knowledgeable about a topic in which I am ignorant.
In my understanding, NZ elections are held every three years, but it is up to the Prime Minister to decide when exactly they happen. This year, Prime Minister Bill English had until November to hold them, but chose to hold them in September. J says that the Prime Minister might choose to do it early for a variety of reasons, including wanting to switch up who is in parliament, or feeling that the political climate at the time is more likely to result in their party getting the majority, etc.
Here is the first of several links, which has a great little video about how NZ's MMP system works:
This one is full of its own links, and explains more about the government systems:
And this one tells you about the leaders of the two main parties, National (more conservative) and Labour (more liberal).
So for this election, because we were registered in advance, we got this in the mail:
You'll notice we had a couple weeks to vote, which is nice. The letter also included a list of places in Wellington where we could vote, and there were lots of them, and they were well positioned. We had one just a the bottom of our hill, as well as at my university. (J used one, I used the other.)
Also included were our EasyVote Cards, which we took with us to vote. (I erased our address and a number that I think might be my voter-ID from mine, so I think it's okay to put the picture up).
I went in, handed them my card, they checked me off the list, I voted for a party and for my local MP (Member of Parliament), and I was done. Very simple and straightforward, which I appreciate.
Unfortunately, NZ, like many countries around the world, seems to be going in a more conservative direction, and National got the most votes, again. Disappointing, especially as those of us in ECE were really hoping for a change. National is not nearly as supportive of education and social programmes as Labour or the Green Party are, although I have to remind myself that it's still not as bad as in the States, for which I am thankful. National does not want to give ECE nearly as much money as we need, but even they are not going to take away the 20 hours a week of ECE that the government pays for for every 3- and 4-year-old child in the country, completely free of charge to parents. So the baseline is still much higher.
This link gives a summary of the results:
As you can see, the Labour Party will still have lots of seats, and hopefully plenty of influence, especially when they team up with the Green Party, as I understand they usually do.
Also, Wellington Central voted in the Labour Candidate, Grant Roberston, as our MP, which is awesome. The capital city is more liberal than much of the rest of the country, apparently.
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