October 18, 2023

Low Māori turnout sparks compulsory voting call

Adam Gifford Posted On October 18, 2023

Labour deputy leader Kelvin Davis says the election result has reinforced his view voting should be compulsory.

Only 20,000 the 38,000 voters in his Te Tai Tokerau electorate voted this year.

Across the seven Maori electorates, that would mean about 100,000 who didn’t vote.

While they might not all vote Labour, they are less likely to vote for right wing parties campaigning to push back on progress for Maori.

“I think voting should be compulsory like they did in Australia. I think that would make more of a difference but we will never get that across the line with a National Government because they know if Maori turn out they would probably never, ever become Government,” he says.

Mr Davis has to wait until special votes are counted on November 3 to know if his 487 vote election night majority in Te Tai Tokerau is enough to keep ahead of Te Pati Maori candidate Mariameno Kapa-Kingi.