A fair go wanted for Ma¯ori voters this time
Whatever arrangements might be put in place in response to Covid-19 for next month’s general election, the Electoral Commission has been questioned regarding what changes it has made to ensure that problems reportedly experienced by Ma¯ ori in 2017 are not repeated.
Massey University Ma¯ ori politics educators Veronica Tawhai and John James Carberry said complaints they received during the 2017 election highlighted a range of issues regarding polling booth staff interactions with Ma¯ ori voters, raising questions about institutional racism and discrimination in the electoral system.
“At the last election we had an undermining of our democracy in that some Ma¯ ori voters were not assisted, but rather prevented from exercising our basic right to participate in the election due to the ignorance, negligence, and in some instances outright prejudice of some voting booth staff,” Tawhai said.
“That is unacceptable, and we are currently awaiting a response from the Electoral Commission on these matters to hear what progress has been made to rectify these problems for this year’s election, problems that lay with their staff, not Ma¯ ori voters.”
Low voter turnout among Ma¯ ori was often attributed to apathy or general alienation from wider society, she said, but problems encountered by Ma¯ ori voters at various voting booths in 2017 included:
Voting booth staff being unaware of the existence of a Ma¯ ori roll;
Some voting booth venues not having a Ma¯ ori roll on-site;
Staff being uninformed and providing voters with incorrect information about Ma¯ ori electorates;
Voters enrolled in Ma¯ ori electorates being given the wrong voting form, and sometimes being refused the correct form;
Staff insisting that Ma¯ ori electors were unregistered when their names didn’t appear on the general roll as opposed to checking the Ma¯ ori roll;
Ma¯ ori enrolling during advanced voting being told by staff that they must enrol on the general roll and vote in a general electorate as opposed to having the choice of the Ma¯ ori roll and a Ma¯ ori electorate;
Staff having difficulty locating te reo Ma¯ ori names on either electoral rolls, even when given identification by those voters.
“These multiple issues resulted in some Ma¯ ori leaving booths without having cast a vote, casting what would be a disallowed electorate vote from having been provided the wrong form, and overall feeling disempowered and devalued from the experience,” Carberry said.
“Considering that these Ma¯ ori features have been a part of New Zealand’s electoral system since 1867, it is remarkable that this was occurring in 2017, the burden of which is passed on to Ma¯ ori voters.
“Despite the uncertainties caused by Covid-19, the Electoral Commission must provide some reassurances to Ma¯ ori that we can be certain that discrimination against
Ma¯ ori voters will not feature during this general election.” Tawhai and Carberry also received complaints from New Zealanders on the general roll, who were incorrectly told by voting booth staff that they could not vote for a “Ma¯ ori party” because they weren’t on the Ma¯ ori roll.