At stake in this election:

• The 120 seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives[i]

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: Queen ELIZABETH II (appoints a Governor-General to represent her; since 31 August 2011, the Governor-General has been Lieutenant General Sir Jerry MATEPARAE)[ii]
• Head of Government: Prime Minister John KEY (since 19 November 2008)[iii]
• Assembly: New Zealand has a unicameral House of Representatives (commonly called Parliament). The House of Representatives usually has 120 seats, of which 70 members are elected by popular vote in single-member constituencies which include 7 Maori constituencies. The remaining 50 are proportional seats chosen from party lists.

Description of electoral system:

• The Queen’s Representative is appointed by the monarch to serve at Her Majesty’s Pleasure
• The Prime Minister, after legislative elections, is usually the leader of the majority party (or coalition) and is appointed by the Governor-General
• In the Parliament, the 70 members of the House of Representatives are elected by popular vote and 50 are proportional seats chosen from party lists.  All MPs serve three year-terms.[iv]

Election Note:

• The election for New Zealand’s House of Representatives is scheduled for 20 September 2014.[v] Elections are generally held every three years but there is no fixed date. The Prime Minister picks the timing of the vote.[vi]

Political entities in this electoral race:

• Party: New Zealand Labour Party / Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa
  • Leader: David CUNLIFFE
  • Seats won in last election: 34
• Party: New Zealand National Party / Rōpū Nāhinara
  • Leader: John KEY
  • Seats won in last election: 59
• Party: ACT New Zealand
  • Leader: Jamie WHYTE
  • Seats won in last election: 1
• Party: Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand
  • Leader: Metiria TUREI and Russel NORMAN
  • Seats won in last election: 14
• Party: Māori Party / Te Tōrangapū Māori
  • Leader: Tariana TURIA and Te Ururoa FLAVELL
  • Seats won in last election: 3
• Party: United Future
  • Leader: Peter DUNNE
  • Seats won in last election: 1
• Party: New Zealand First / Aotearoa Tuatahi
  • Leader: Winston PETERS
  • Seats won in last election: 8
• Party: Mana Party
  • Leader: Hone HAWAWIRA
  • Seats won in last election: 1

Last election:

• The last election to the House of Representatives in New Zealand was held on 26 November 2011.[vii] The ruling New Zealand National Party led by current Prime Minister John KEY competed against the opposition New Zealand Labour Party led by Moira COATSWORTH. With a total of 2,257,336 votes cast the ruling National Party won the election with 59 seats, while the opposition Labour Party attained 34 seats. John KEY remained Prime Minister. Results can be found here.

Population and Voter Registration:

• Population: 4,401,916 (July 2014 est)[viii]
• Registered Voters: 3,070,847 (November 2011)[ix]

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 2,304,202 (2014)

·         Is New Zealand a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has New Zealand ratified CEDAW: Yes (10 January 1985)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 36 (following the 2014 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 9 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is New Zealand a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has New Zealand ratified CRPD: Yes (25 September 2008)

·         Population with a disability: 660,207 (est.)