Māori voters should have received an information pack in the mail by now about the Māori Electoral Option.

The Option is the choice for Māori to enrol on the Māori electoral roll or the general electoral roll. At the beginning of April, information packs were sent to 512,000 voters who identified themselves as being of Māori descent when they enrolled to vote.

Chief Electoral Officer Karl Le Quesne says the pack includes a letter confirming which electoral roll the voter is currently on, and information on how to change rolls if they would like to.

‘If you’re Māori and enrolled to vote, you should have received a pack in the mail. If you’re happy with the roll you’re on, you don’t need to do anything. If you’d like to change the roll you’re on, sign and date the letter in the pack and send it back, or go online to vote.nz to make the change.

‘If you haven’t received a pack, it means we have an old address for you, or you’re not enrolled,’ says Karl Le Quesne. ‘You can enrol, update your address, or change rolls if you would like to at vote.nz, or by filling in a new enrolment form.’

Māori who want to switch rolls before the 14 October General Election need to make the change before midnight 13 July.

At this year’s election, voters on the Māori roll will vote for a candidate in a Māori electorate and voters on the general roll will vote for a candidate in a general electorate. Whichever roll a voter is on, they will choose from the same list of political parties when it comes to their party vote.

Visit vote.nz for more information or call 0800 36 76 56 to ask for an enrolment form to be sent to you.

Since 31 March, 4,684 voters of Māori descent have changed rolls, enrolled for the first time, or updated their details.

• 2,442 people have changed roll types – 1,448 from the general roll to the Māori roll, and 994 from the Māori roll to the general roll.
• There have been 220 new enrolments on the Māori roll and 99 new enrolments on the general roll.
• Another 1,923 people haven’t changed rolls but have taken the opportunity to update their details on the electoral roll, for example, their address.

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