MEDIA RELEASE
Electoral Enrolment Centre
Tuesday 31 May 2005

Maori voters ‘lost’ from the Te Tai Hauauru electoral roll

Close to 900 Maori have had their names taken off the Te Tai Hauauru electoral roll – and their vote won’t count unless they re-enrol.

“These voters had been on the electoral roll, but because they haven’t kept their details up to date their personalised enrolment update packs sent out early in May as part of the Enrolment Update Campaign have been returned to us undelivered,” says Helen Johnson, Registrar of Electors for the Te Tai Hauauru electorate.

By law their details must be removed from the electoral roll.

“I have a strong message to all eligible voters in the Te Tai Hauauru electorate – get enrolled TODAY. Your vote won’t count unless you’re enrolled,” says Mrs Johnson.

Across the country 45,542 people have been removed from the electoral rolls - almost 10,000 of these are of Maori descent.

Key Facts
· 45,542 people taken off the electoral rolls following the Enrolment Update Campaign

· 9,624 are of Maori descent

· 6,059 were enrolled in Maori electorates
- 782 Ikaroa-Rawhiti
- 867 Tainui
- 905 Tamaki Makaurau
- 873 Te Hai Hauauru
- 733 Te Tai Tokerau
- 1,025 Te Tai Tonga
- 874 Waiariki

“The vote of just one of these people could be the difference between a win or a loss for a candidate or political party. Your vote will only count if you’re on the electoral roll.

“If you’ve moved house recently or changed your details and you didn’t get a personalised enrolment update pack early in May then you will be one of these people who have been removed from the roll.

Enrolment forms are available by calling 0800 ENROL NOW (0800 36 76 56), freetexting your name and address to 3676, visiting any PostShop or going online to www.elections.org.nz. You can also check and update your details online at the website.

Helen Johnson reminds people who have received their enrolment update pack to open it, check their details are right and if they’re not to let us know by updating them and returning the form. If you’ve received a pack for someone no longer living at the address it should be returned so that person’s details can be removed from the roll.

The Enrolment Update Campaign ends on June 17 so provisional electoral rolls can be printed and made available for people to check their details.

Ends

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