The 2018 Māori Electoral Option has closed, with more than 23,300 Māori choosing to change roll types or enrol to vote.
The Option ran from 3 April to 2 August and gave all enrolled voters of Māori descent the opportunity to be on the Māori roll or general roll.
At the end of the Option, 52.4% of Māori voters were on the Māori roll and 47.6% were on the general roll, compared with 52.8% and 47.2% at the start of the Option period. There have been net increases of 1,200 on the Māori roll and 4,015 on the general roll.
“About 95% of Māori voters chose to stay on the roll they were already on and there was a small change in the proportion of voters on each roll,” says Mandy Bohté, National Manager for Enrolment and Community Engagement.
“Of those who opted to change rolls, more moved from the Māori roll to the general roll, and when it came to new enrolments, more opted for the Māori roll,” says Ms Bohté.
The following table provides a summary of the changes.
The data will be provided to Stats NZ which will use the results of the Option, along with information from the Census, to calculate the number of Māori and general electorates for the next two elections. Stats NZ is working towards releasing the number of electorates in March 2019.
There are currently seven Māori electorates and that number could increase, decrease or stay the same.
After the number of electorates has been calculated by the Government Statistician, the Representation Commission will be convened to determine the electorate boundaries and the names of the electorates for the 2020 and 2023 general elections.
For an electorate breakdown and previous Māori Electoral Option results go to https://www.elections.org.nz/meo/results.