Flag referendum kicks off in New Zealand

A referendum on what New Zealand's national flag should like started on Friday.

New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister, Bill English, encouraged Kiwis to take "a lifetime opportunity" to have their say in the referendum which runs until December 11.

Voting papers of the postal referendum would arrive in letterboxes around New Zealand over the next few days, said Robert Peden, Chief Electoral Officer. Voters will be asked the question "If the New Zealand flag changes, which flag would you prefer?"

On the voting paper, there are five alternative flag options waiting to be ranked in the order of "1, 2, 3, 4, 5". They were shortlisted by a flag referendum panel out of more than 10,000 designs submitted by Kiwis

If one flag option gets 50 percent or more of all the first preference votes (that is marked "1" votes), it will be selected on the first count. If no flag option gets 50 percent or more of the first preference votes, the flag with the fewest number "1" votes is dropped and its votes go to the flag each voter ranked next. This continues until one flag gets half or more of the valid votes.

The result will be published in December 15.

In March next year, there will be another referendum to choose between the preferred alternative option and the current flag. Endit