An independent review into New Zealand's electoral system has proposed a raft of changes.
They include giving the vote to 16-year-olds and making it easier for small parties to get into parliament.
But new disciplines would be imposed on small parties, such as losing the right to bring in extra members if they win one electoral seat.
These proposals were drafted by the six-person Independent Electoral Review Panel, chaired by the lawyer and director, Deborah Hart. The panel to review electoral law was appointed by the then Justice Minister Kris Faafoi in May 2022.
Its proposals are now open to submissions and a final report will come out by November.
One issue the panel looked at was the position of minor parties. At present, they must win at least 5% of the party vote to get into parliament, which means they move from no representation to six MPs or more by just getting a few extra votes.
The panel wants that margin to be reduced to 3.5%. It says that threshold will still allow stable Governments to be formed.
On the other hand, the "coat-tail" rule would be abolished, meaning parties that win an electorate seat will no longer be able to bring in extra MPs if they reach 3% or 4% of the party vote but still fall short of 5%.
"Lowering the threshold will broaden representation by allowing more minor parties into parliament," the panel says.
The panel also heard arguments about the three year Parliamentary term, which is frequently accused of contributing to short-term thinking.
So the panel is now calling for a referendum on whether this should change, saying it is 32 years since the last time a referendum was held.
The panel also comes out strongly against the 'Waka Jumping" rule, which was pushed by New Zealand First. This law means MPs can lose their seat if they leave or are removed from their party.
"In our view, MPs have the right to freedom of expression and of association and should be able to express dissent with the views of their party," the panel wrote.
"Getting rid of these rules would protect those rights and act as an important check on parties and on the government."
The panel also calls for the right to vote being reduced so that people aged 16 and 17 could also cast a ballot.
The current threshold of 18 was found by a court to be discriminatory. The panel thinks it is also a source of discrimination against Maori, who have more young people in their ranks than the population at large. This means the Maori population have fewer MPs to represent them than the average.
The panel also wants to allow Maori voters to be able to switch from the general to the Maori role at any time, even up to and including election day.
The panel also wants people to be able to spend more time abroad before losing the franchise.
"People have more ways than ever before to stay connected," the panel says.
"We think most citizens overseas would continue to be invested in and affected by government policies beyond a single electoral cycle and we recommend extending it to two electoral cycles."
Another proposed change would allow political activity to take place on election day.
And a further suggestion includes allowing electronic vote counting of preliminary results, which would start the long term move towards digitally run elections.
The panel also address the vexed question of party finance. It wants to restrict donations to individuals. This would mean that companies, trade unions, trusts, and other organisations could not make a financial donation.
"Donation and loan amounts are currently uncapped," the panel goes on to say.
"We recommend they are capped at $30,000 per party for each election cycle. We also recommend reducing the amount of money that can be donated anonymously from $1,500 to $500."
In addition, large donors should have their grants divulged on a weekly basis. And there should be state funding of all parties to balance any inequities.
The panel also recommends setting a cap on political advertising of $3.5 million for all parties, which it says reflects actual spending done by National and Labour.
Electorates are currently allowed to vary in size at present to make them reflect the geography of an area. The panel recommends increasing this tolerance from 5% to 10%.
The report also addresses the risk of foreign interference in New Zealand elections. It says the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) did not identify systemic, state-sponsored interference activity in the 2020 election.
"However, the NZSIS has confirmed a small number of states engage in interference activities against our national interest, including by targeting our political sector.
"We recommend addressing an existing vulnerability in our system by preventing third party promoters using money from overseas persons to fund election advertising in the three months before an election."
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