Māori Electoral Option about to begin
All Māori eligible to enrol to vote are about to get the chance to choose whether to be enrolled on the General Electoral Roll or the Māori Electoral Roll.
“The Māori Electoral Option starts on Monday 3 April and runs for four months,” says Electoral Enrolment Centre National Manager, Murray Wicks.
“Māori won’t get this choice again for another six years,” he says. “Māori need to take notice of this year’s option and make their choice to enrol either on the General Electoral Roll or the Māori Electoral Roll.
“There are another two general elections scheduled to be held between now and the next Māori Electoral Option in 2012. People already enrolled can only change the type of electoral roll they are on during the Māori Electoral Option – they can’t change in an election year.”
Over the coming weeks awareness about the Māori Electoral Option will be raised through educational activity in communities and television and radio advertising.
“Community meetings informing people about what the Māori Electoral Option is and how to take part are being run across the length and breadth of the country. These will continue in the weeks ahead,” says Mr Wicks.
Only New Zealand Māori or descendants of New Zealand Māori can be registered on the Māori Electoral Roll. Under the Electoral Act, everyone else is not regarded as New Zealand Māori and must register on the General Roll.
“People already enrolled will get their personalised Māori Electoral Option pack in the mail from next Monday,” says Mr Wicks. “If they’re not enrolled, all they need to do is fill in an enrolment form and choose the type of electoral roll – General or Māori – when they are completing the form.”
There are currently 378,000 people identified as Māori enrolled to vote. 208,000 are on the Māori Electoral Roll and 170,000 on the General Electoral Roll.
Once the Māori Electoral Option is over, the numbers will be used to help work out the number of Māori Electorates. The number of Māori Electorates since 1993 is detailed below.
| 1993 General Election | 4 Māori Electorates |
|---|---|
| 1996 General Election | 5 Māori Electorates |
| 1999 General Election | 6 Māori Electorates |
| 2002/2005 General Election | 7 Māori Electorates |
More information about the Māori Electoral Option is available from www.elections.org.nz .
For more information please contact: Murray Wicks, National Manager, Electoral Enrolment Centre Ph 04 801 0701 or 027 249 4508 or Anna Hughes, Communications Advisor ph 027 28 28 827.
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