13 Aug 2018

Smaller proportion on Māori electoral roll despite growth

5:11 pm on 13 August 2018

While numbers have grown, there is now a smaller proportion of Māori on the Māori electoral roll.

Since April, Māori voters have had the option to shift between the Māori or the general roll.

On the Māori roll, 10,163 people opted to move from there to the General Roll, with 7956 choosing to go back the other way.

While, 3407 new voters enrolled on the Māori roll and 1808 of Māori descent opted for the General Roll.

Also, 52.4 percent of Māori voters are on the Māori roll compared with 52.8 percent at the start of the option period.

The net impact was a 1200 increase in voter on the Māori roll, and 4015 on the General Roll.

The data will be provided to Stats NZ which will use the results, along with Census information, to calculate the number of Māori and general electorates for the next two elections.

Stats NZ will release the number of electorates in March next year.

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