Listen Now: 
Publicity around the Ikaroa-Rāwhiti by-election has made a slight increase in the flow of voters onto the Māori electoral roll.
Candidates and Māori MPs have been urging Māori to use the Māori electoral option to switch to the Māori electoral roll, but the numbers coming across are unlikely to lead to an increase in the number of Māori seats.
A progressive update released today showed that over the past month 953 voters switched from the general roll to the Māori roll, and 600 went the other way from the Māori to the general roll.
First time voters signing up in Ikaroa-Rāwhiti helped take the number of new enrolments on the Māori roll to 4798, compared with 2044 on the general roll.
That means a net gain in the Māori roll of 5198 voters and 1644 on the general roll, with a month to go.
Copyright © 2013, UMA Broadcasting Ltd
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