The Ministry of Justice have called for public submissions as they consider whether the timing and frequency of the Māori Electoral Option should be changed.

Te Pāti Māori today made their submission to the Ministry of Justice and was centered on three points; that Māori should be able to change roles at any time, that Māori should be automatically enrolled onto the Māori roll and that electorate boundaries must be reassessed regularly.

Co-Leader of the Party, Rawiri Waititi said he was “deeply concerned about the nature in which this consultation process has occurred. Nobody knew about it, we didn’t know when it went up and submissions close this Friday”

“We are hugely disappointed about the lack of publicity around this and it is entirely indicative of the crown wanting to uphold a system that limits our right to vote”

“The scope of the consultation is also very narrow and fails to reflect the gravity of the reform necessary” said Waititi.

“The electoral commission have been recommending since 2017 that Māori voters should be able to change roll type at any time and nothing has been done”

“The current electoral law is one of the most racist laws this country has. It was designed purposefully to prevent Māori from participating fully in the democratic process”

“This is now our opportunity to remove the barriers in place that continue to silence us. This is our opportunity to make changes to the current system so that our right to participate in our country’s democracy is being recognised” said Waititi.

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