Media & news Te hunga pāpāho me ngā rongo kōrero

Thousands of Māori voters have taken the opportunity to change electoral rolls or update their details before this year’s general election.

Voters of Māori descent choose the Māori roll or general roll when they first enrol to vote and can change rolls at any time except in the 3 months before an election.

‘We’re now in that 3-month period when you can’t change between the Māori and general rolls before the election,’ says Karl Le Quesne, Chief Electoral Officer.

‘If you’re Māori and enrolled to vote, the roll you’re on now is the roll you will be on for the 2023 General Election on 14 October. You’ll be able to change rolls again after the election.

‘If you’re not enrolled yet, you can still enrol and make your choice between the Māori roll and the general roll right up to the election,’ says Karl Le Quesne.

Between 31 March and midnight 13 July, nearly 40,000 voters of Māori descent changed rolls, enrolled for the first time, or updated their details.

• 14,587 changed roll types ̶  8,109 from the general roll to the Māori roll, and 6,478 from the Māori roll to the general roll.
• There were 2,133 new enrolments on the Māori roll and 1,108 new enrolments on the general roll.
• Another 22,136 voters of Māori descent didn’t change rolls, but updated their details, for example their address.

People can enrol, check the roll they are on, or update their address online at vote.nz, or call 0800 36 76 56 to ask for an enrolment form to be sent to them in the mail.