Thousands wiped from electoral roll

By Kristina Rapley and Alice Neville

About 47,000 Maori voters have been wiped from the electoral roll since the last election, thanks to their unopened enrolment packs being returned to sender.

More names are being removed every day as unopened packs are returned, says Murray Wicks, national manager of the Electoral Enrolment Centre.

Derek Fox, the Maori Party’s candidate for the Ikaroa-Rawhiti seat, says he is “very concerned” about the number of names being wiped off the list.

More than 28,000 of the 47,000 names have been taken off the Maori roll, shrinking it by nearly 12 per cent. The remaining 19,000 names are people of Maori descent on the general roll.

“It’s a terrible waste of mana that at a time when Maori have a real chance to determine who is in government, we are losing people off the roll. It’s a grave loss,” says Fox.

“I’m disappointed at the effort to recruit people on to the roll.

“I don’t think the electoral office has done as much as it might have.”

But Wicks says the Electoral Enrolment Centre is doing everything it can to encourage Maori to get back on the roll, with advertising campaigns and electoral staff working with communities.

He says non-participation in elections is highest among Maori, Pacific Islanders, Asians and youth.

“There are a number of reasons why they don’t vote. They sometimes think their vote doesn’t count or the process is too hard,” he says.

Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia, sitting MP for Ikaroa-Rawhiti, says it is “up to all of us to encourage our whanau and our wider communities to get enrolled.”

“Make sure you are enrolled,” says Horomia.

“Make sure you update your address details so you can be sure to have your voice heard on election day.”

Fox believes a number of those taken off the roll have moved to Australia, a trend that worries him.

“There’s a minimum of 120,000 Maori in Australia,” he says.

“It’s a terrible indictment on this country that people don’t want to stay here.

“We’re losing a lot of our young people – they feel they’re not wanted here. It is a terrible loss to families, iwi and the country.”