July 29, 2013
Māori option fails to spark
The four-month Māori electoral option has resulted in a net increase of just 7052 voters on the Māori roll.
That is less than half the increase generated in the 2006 option, and means it is extremely unlikely there will be an increase in the number of Māori seats.
The results of that exercise will come in October, once the option results and information from the 2013 census are put into the formula for calculating electorate size.
Just over 17,120 Māori chose to change roll types.
The biggest increase in Māori voters came in Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, where publicity over the by-election may have contributed to 1,496 people enrolling for the first time and 1358 voters shifting from the general roll to the Māori roll.
Fifty five percent of voters of Māori origin are on the Māori roll and 45 percent on the general roll.
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