Te Pāti Māori Co-leaders, Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, say they are not satisfied with the Electoral Commission’s response to concerns over the mass removal of voters from the roll, calling it a poor excuse that fails to address the real issue.
In a formal reply to Te Pāti Māori, the Commission blamed the dormant roll process, where voters are shifted off the main roll if mail is returned and they cannot be contacted. By law, the Commission is meant to make reasonable efforts to contact voters before placing them on the dormant roll.
“They can dress it up however they want, but whānau are being kicked off without knowing it, and that’s an attack on our mana and our rights” said Ngarewa-Packer.
“We’ve got kaumātua who’ve lived in the same whare all their lives, never missed a vote, and never had a knock on the door, a text, an email- nothing.
“This is not a mistake. It’s voter suppression.”
Te Pāti Māori has demanded an urgent briefing with the Commission and an urgent inquiry into the enrolment system, dormant roll processes, and the scale of deregistration hitting Māori and Pasifika communities.
“If we’re not satisfied with the response, we’ll be lobbying the Government to initiate a Royal Commission of Inquiry” said Waititi.
“Our tīpuna fought to have the right to vote, we will not stand by while Māori are quietly scrubbed from the roll.”
E te iwi, if you have found that you have been deregistered, or if you forgot to register before the cut-off dates- it’s not too late– you can still register and vote in the Tāmaki Makaurau By-Election and in the Local Elections.