September 28, 2020
Electoral roll grows in Maori seat
The Electoral Commission is encouraging more Māori to enrol and vote.
The written electoral roll has closed but people can still enrol and cast a special vote up to and including election day on October 17.
Foreign voting started Wednesday and early voting starts on Saturday.
Commission spokesperson Atene Andrews says turnout in the Māori seats has traditionally been lower than general seats.
In Tāmaki Makaurau, last election 35,000 people enrolled in Tāmaki Makaurau, but only 64 percent turned up to vote.
"The enrolments are up. As of last week the enrolments for Tāmaki Makaurau were up to 38,000. We'd like to see if we can reach 40,000 for that group, but of course the unknown factor will be how many or our people actually voted on the day," he says.
Atene Andrews says 52 marae around the country are being used as polling booths this year, and he’s encouraging marae and communities to consider whether they should offer to host a booth next election.
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