Electoral Commission
Te Kaitiaki Take Kōwhiri

29 July 2013

Results of 2013 Māori Electoral Option

The 2013 Māori Electoral Option is over, with 17,120 Māori choosing to change roll types, and another 9,175 new Māori enrolments.

The 2013 Māori Electoral Option ran from 25 March until 24 July 2013, and gave all enrolled Māori the opportunity to choose whether they wanted to be on the General Electoral Roll or the Māori Electoral Roll for the next two general elections.

“The results of the Māori Electoral Option, along with information from the 2013 Census of Population and Dwellings will be used by Statistics New Zealand to help determine the number of General and Māori electorates,” says Murray Wicks, National Manager of the Enrolment Services.

Final results of the Option:

Changes to Electoral Roll Type
Māori Roll to General Roll (A): 8,261
General Roll to Māori Roll (B): 8,859

New Enrolments of Māori Descent
General Roll (C): 2,721
Māori Roll (D): 6,454

Impact on Rolls To Date
Net Impact on Māori Roll +/(-) (E): 7,052
Net Impact on General Roll +/(-) (F): 2,123

E = B-A+D
F = A-B+C

Total Rolls at End of Option
Māori on Māori Roll: 228,718 (55%)
Māori on General Roll: 184,630 (45%)

“Now that the Option has finished we will provide enrolment data to the Government Statistician, who will make an announcement on the number of Māori and General electorates on 7 October.”

“The Māori Electoral Option is just one of a number of factors that play a part in the number of Māori electorates,” says Mr Wicks. “Other factors include population change since the last census, the number of people included in the census, and how people answered the census questions about Māori descent.”

Once 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 2014 and 2017 general elections in accordance with the requirements of the Electoral Act. It is anticipated the Representation Commission will release proposed boundaries in late November 2013 for public consultation and issues its final report in mid April 2014.

For the 2006, 2001 and 1997 Māori Electoral Option results and an electorate breakdown for the 2013 Māori Electoral Option go to www.elections.org.nz/meo/results

ENDS

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