The case for Māori moving on to the Māori electoral roll

Otago Daily Times

10-07-2025

The electoral roll. PHOTO: ELECTORAL COMMISSION
If you are whakapapa Māori and are enrolled to vote, yesterday was the deadline to move from the general roll to the Māori roll.
The law change a few years ago now means we can change rolls up to three months before an election, local or national. If you are not enrolled yet, you can still enrol and choose the Māori roll.
If you did not make the deadline this time, you have another chance after the local body election in October.
This is my take on why you should get ready to change over.
We can see our local candidates starting to jostle for the council seats. The political slings and arrows are starting to fly.
But it is not just the budding politicians who need to be thinking about elections. We too need to be thinking about the seats that our future Māori political representatives will be occupying.
It does feel like an occupation at the moment, especially in Parliament. The political representation we have is under constant attack.
It is as if our very presence in politics is an affront. Our culture is unwelcome. Our beautiful voices fall on closed ears. Even our skin is vilified.
The only solution is more of it.
Moving from the general roll to the Māori roll has significant implications for our political representation, cultural respect, and the advocacy of our interests.
While not a sole solution, we do get stronger Māori political influence, enhanced representation in Parliament, and greater alignment with tikanga Māori when we have more Māori in Parliament.
This is because the number of Māori seats in Parliament is determined by the proportion of Māori voters on the Māori roll. When more Māori choose this option, it can lead to the creation of additional Māori electorates, ensuring that there are more of our voices better represented in government.
The last time this happened was in 2002 when we went from six to seven Māori electorates. It has been over 20 years, and we are long overdue for another increase.
Māori political participation is not just about individual votes but about strengthening collective power.
We have demonstrated incredible unity of political purpose in just the last year. That purpose has been carried by too few Māori representatives, and the load is sometimes too great to bear.
Those of us who will not go into these political roles can help to support those who do by making sure there are more of them.
That is what moving to the Māori Roll can do. That is one of the first and most important ways we can help before we even cast our votes.
This year, the government's attack on local-body Māori representation will be felt across the country. There will be many councils having to hold referendums in order to keep the local Māori seats they democratically established.
Māori around the country will have to fight for basic representation at council, which will now be won or lost on whether Pākehā people agree or not. No-one is holding their breath.
So while we plan how to support Māori community representation at the local level, we need to remember that it is the politicians in Parliament who forced that referendum on local councils.
We can act to improve our representation at the national level by moving to the Māori Roll. And we had better do it before the government gets any silly ideas in its head.
When the number of Māori seats increases as more people switch rolls, the importance of Māori representation in decision-making processes becomes unavoidable.
There are more of us occupying those spaces — with more kōrero, more tā moko, more waiata, and more haka.
Choosing the Māori roll is important because it forces dedicated political spaces where our perspectives are prioritised. MMP means that smaller parties, including those with strong Māori representation like the Green Party and Te Pāti Māori, can play a greater role in forming governments and making them key players in coalition negotiations.
And while this is not always great for us (cough, Shane), we still need our presence influencing the decisions that are being made.
We don't all agree, just as Pākehā representatives don't all agree. But we are entitled to occupy those political spaces with all our different perspectives.
Moving from the general roll to the Māori roll is a powerful way for Māori to assert our political rights, increase our representation, and ensure that our values are addressed in Parliament. By doing so, we contribute to a more equitable democracy that amplifies Māori voices.
Above all else, we send the message to our Māori representatives that we value their contribution, acknowledge their sacrifices, and that we have their backs.
■Metiria Stanton Turei is a senior law lecturer at the University of Otago and a former Green Party MP and co-leader.