November 01, 2023
Māori voters upset at Otautahi attitude
Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere says Māori in Otautahi were particularly badly served by election officials.
The party is calling for a full inquiry into the conduct of the October 14 election.
Mr Tamihere says it has heard from multiple special voters who say they wanted to vote on the Māori roll but were given only general roll candidates to vote for.
Many Māori also had to navigate the polling booth without Easy Vote card, either because they were sent out late by the Electoral Commission or because they had changed address since the last election.
“We want a fair and equal election and we want to be treated like non-Māori electors when they rock up to vote. That clearly does not occur. Christchurch was one of the worst places but we have evidence with regard to a number of polling booths in certain areas,” Mr Tamihere says.
He says he will look closely when the final count is released on Friday to see how many Māori votes were disallowed.