Wasted votes

In the 2020 general election, 225,000 votes were cast for minor parties that failed to reach the 5% threshold to gain seats in Parliament. Those votes were in effect wasted. That was 7.8% of the total vote or nine seats of the 120 seats in Parliament.

It is therefore no surprise a great deal of attention is turning to how that wasted vote can be united into a single voting bloc.

Two groups are attempting to do exactly that.

One is Freedoms NZ, led by Brian Tamaki. It describes itself as an “umbrella” under which the small parties gather (like the Alliance Party in days gone by). So far, four parties have joined the umbrella: The Outdoors Party, Vision NZ, One NZ, and the recently established New Nation Party. The first three of those parties collectively gained just 15,613 votes at the last election – 0.5%.

A second initiative is by a group called Voters United. It is not a political party and unlike Freedoms NZ it is not trying to unite minnow parties. Its approach is to appeal directly to those who do not want to vote for any of the established parties in Parliament. By polling its subscribers, it will identify the ONE minnow that has the greatest support, and suggest people vote tactically for that party.

How the minor parties polled in 2020

The Opportunities Party (TOP)     1.5%

New Conservative                             1.5%

Advance NZ                                     1%

Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party     0.5%

ONE Party                                          0.3%

Vision New Zealand                     0.1%

NZ Outdoors Party                         0.1%

TEA Party                                     0.1%

Sustainable New Zealand Party        0.1%

Social Credit                                     0.1%

HeartlandNZ                                  0%