Fewer people opt for M¯aori roll
The Ma¯ ori roll has grown by just 1200 voters in the latest round of the Ma¯ ori electoral option – the smallest growth in more than two decades.
The infrequent survey allows eligible voters of Ma¯ ori descent to join either the general roll or the Ma¯ ori roll, and is the only time already enrolled people can switch between the two.
The results are then used alongside census data to calculate the number of Ma¯ ori seats – electoral seats that only people on the Ma¯ori roll vote in. There are seven Ma¯ ori seats and the results of this option will determine the number of seats for the 2020 and 2023 elections.
Most Ma¯ori voters did not change rolls, with 95 per cent staying with the roll they were on. But more than 10,000 people on the Ma¯ori roll decided to switch to the general roll during the option, while just under 8000 people opted to switch from the general roll to the Ma¯ ori one.
An influx of new enrolments by people of Ma¯ori descent, of whom 3407 joined the Ma¯ ori roll and 1808 joined the general, brought the net increase to 1200 new Ma¯ ori roll voters.
This is the lowest increase for many years. The last option in 2013 saw the Ma¯ ori roll grow by just over 7000; the one before that in 2006 saw it grow by almost 15,000.
It also means the 2018 option is the first to have resulted in more Ma¯ori joining the general roll than the Ma¯ ori roll.
Just under 250,000 Ma¯ori voters are now on the roll, or about 52 per cent of eligible Ma¯ ori voters – down from 55 per cent in 2013.
It is not yet clear what this will mean for the number of Ma¯ori seats, as that will depend on unreleased census data, but Ma¯ ori Party vice-president (wahine) Kaapua Smith said it could mean the loss of a seat, although she suspected the ratio would simply stay the same.
‘‘I’m particularly concerned about the lack of participation by Ma¯ori in the census as well, so when you put the two together you could potentially lose a seat,’’ Smith said.
‘‘It’s concerning that more people are choosing the general option but it’s not too far off the kind of data we’ve seen in previous options.’’
Smith echoed calls from many other critics to simplify the process of switching rolls, which she believed voters should be able to do at any time.
She noted that given renewed calls to abolish the seats, Ma¯ ori needed to rally around them.
‘‘If we don’t utilise them, we will lose them,’’ Smith said.