The second question in September, to be answered by and counted for all voters, regardless of their response to the first question, is to indicate which one, of four particular electoral systems proposed, the voter would prefer if the electoral system were to be changed. If none of the four options receives an absolute majority of the vote it will nevertheless be offered in 1993 as the only option other than the existing system. An absolute majority of voters may want reform, provided it is any of several options except the one that is chosen by the largest minority of voters. That is the way the first September question could be carried, but the 1993 poll lost. The solution would be to require September's option poll to be by preferential voting.
Any populace considering preferential voting has to be prepared to use it for the first time.
Australia embarked on it around 1919 for elections to both houses both in the States and federally, with multiple vacancies being filled in the Senate. Option B is a quota-preferential system similar to that used in Australia's Senate and various State Houses. It is the only type of proportional representation that has been legislated for before in New Zealand, and was used in certain New Zealand municipal elections for a number of years. Option C is similar to the German Bundestag electoral system. Half the seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives would be elected as at present, except that, because there would be only half the present number of single-member electorates, each would contain twice the present number of electors.