1908 New Zealand general election
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All 80 seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives 41 seats were needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 79.8% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1908 New Zealand general election was held on Tuesday, 17 November, 24 November and 1 December in the general electorates, and on Wednesday, 2 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 17th session of the New Zealand Parliament. A total number of 537,003 (79.8%) voters turned out to vote.[1]
Changes to the electoral law
The Second Ballot Act 1908 provided for second or runoff ballots between the top two candidates where the top candidate did not get an absolute majority. The second ballot was held seven days after the first ballot except in ten large rural seats, where fourteen days were allowed. In 1908, 22 second ballots were held on 24 November and one (Bay of Plenty) on 1 December. At the 1911 election, all 30 second ballots were held seven days later.[2] Two 1909 by-elections (in Rangitikei and Thames) also required second ballots.
The Second Ballot Act of 1908, which did not apply to the Maori electorates, was repealed in 1913.
Summary of results
Party totals
The following table gives party strengths and vote distribution.[3]
style="width: 2px; background-color: #FFDF00;" data-sort-value="New Zealand Liberal Party" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #9999CC;" data-sort-value="Conservative (New Zealand)" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #CC0033;" data-sort-value="Independent Political Labour League" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #8B0000;" data-sort-value="New Zealand Socialist Party" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #DCDCDC;" data-sort-value="Independent politician" |Election results | ||||||
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Party | Candidates | Total votes | Percentage | Seats won | Change | |
Liberal | 108 | 315,220 | 58.7 | 50 | -8 | |
Conservative | 53 | 149,286 | 27.8 | 26 | +10 | |
Ind. Labour League | 11 | 16,974 | 3.1 | 1 | +1 | |
Socialist | 5 | 2,521 | 0.6 | 0 | ±0 | |
Independent | 45 | 50,478 | 9.4 | 3 | -1 |
Votes summary
Electorate results
Template:1908 New Zealand general election
Summary of changes
- A boundary redistribution resulted in the abolition of seven seats:
- Caversham, held by Thomas Sidey
- Courtenay, held by Charles Lewis
- Hawera, held by Charles E. Major
- Mount Ida, held by John MacPherson
- Newtown, held by William Barber
- Waiapu, held by James Carroll
- Waikouaiti, held by Thomas Mackenzie
- At the same time, seven new seats came into being:
Notes
- ^ "General elections 1853-2005 - dates & turnout". Elections New Zealand. Archived from the original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
- ^ McLintock, A. H. (1966). "Second Ballot System (1908–13)". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ^ Wilson 1985, pp. 287–289.