Election signs in New Zealand’s
2011 mixed member proportional
(MMP) general election

New Zealand’s sixth general election under the country's mixed member proportional (MMP) representation electoral system was held on 26 November 2011. The National Party increased its share of the party votes cast in the general election by 2.4 percent and comfortably retained the reins of government. Two parties not elected in 2008 won seats in the House of Representatives in 2011: the New Zealand First party returned to Parliament after a three-year absence; while Hone Harawira was returned as the MP for Te Tai Tokerau, not as a member of the Maori Party but representing the Mana Party instead. For the third election in a row, there was an overhang in Parliament: the three seats won by the Maori Party were one more than it would have been entitled to on the basis of its party vote alone. A referendum was also held in conjunction with the general election, and 57.8 percent of the electors who cast a valid vote in the referendum opted “to keep the MMP voting system”.