Ngā Iwi o Taranaki have launched an ambitious iwi-funded campaign to increase Māori enrolment and voter turnout ahead of the 2026 General Election, using everything from social media and celebrity cameos to phone calls, door knocking and election-day transport.
Called The Landline, the campaign brings together the eight iwi of Taranaki and is being coordinated through Te Tōpuni Ngārahu, with organisers hoping to reach uri living not only within the rohe but across Aotearoa.
The campaign launched with just 60 days remaining until the 7 November election, while the deadline to enrol comes even earlier on 25 October.
KŪMARA VINE CONNECTS THE WHĀNAU
At the centre of the campaign is the kūmara vine, used as a symbol for the connections between whānau, whenua and communities.
Rather than delivering a heavy political message, The Landline uses humour and a deliberately playful approach to make enrolling and voting easier to engage with.
The campaign also plays with the idea of the old-fashioned landline telephone, using a kūmara as the phone to cut through a crowded digital environment and connect particularly with younger Māori.
The message is not about telling Māori who to vote for. It is about making sure they are enrolled, understand the deadlines and actually participate.
Te Tōpuni Ngārahu says the campaign is entirely funded by iwi and represents a collective effort by Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Mutunga, Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Maru, Taranaki Iwi, Ngāruahine, Ngāti Ruanui and Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi.
MĀORI ENROLMENT GROWING — TURNOUT REMAINS THE CHALLENGE
There are encouraging signs heading into Election 2026.
Electoral Commission figures show that by 6 August, 565,092 voters of Māori descent were enrolled, with 309,601, or 55 percent, on the Māori roll and 255,491 on the general roll.
Between 31 March and 6 August, more than 60,000 Māori voters changed rolls, enrolled for the first time or updated their details.
That included 11,272 new enrolments and 17,033 people changing between the Māori and general rolls.
But enrolment is only half the battle.
Ngā Iwi o Taranaki say almost three in every ten enrolled Māori voters did not cast a ballot at the 2023 General Election, making turnout one of the central targets of the new campaign.
FROM STAN WALKER TO THE FRONT DOOR
The campaign is combining recognisable Māori faces with people from Taranaki communities.
Musician Stan Walker, comedian Joe Daymond, Māori AI leader Dan Te Whenua Walker and lawyer Riana Te Ngahue are among those appearing alongside everyday Taranaki locals.
But the campaign will not live solely on TikTok, Facebook or Instagram.
Iwi will use their own databases to contact uri, provide enrolment education, call and text whānau, undertake door-to-door engagement and provide vans on election day to help people get to voting places.
That whānau-to-whānau approach could prove particularly important for rangatahi and Māori who have become disconnected from conventional political campaigning.
A DIFFERENT ELECTION IN 2026
The urgency is greater this year because the enrolment rules have changed.
Voting in New Zealand begins on 26 October, but enrolment closes at midnight on 25 October. Election Day is 7 November.
Māori who were already enrolled are also now inside the three-month period during which they cannot switch between the Māori and general rolls.
However, Māori enrolling for the first time can still choose which roll they want to join before the 25 October deadline.
For Ngā Iwi o Taranaki, that makes the next several weeks critical.
FROM THE MAUNGA TO THE BALLOT BOX
The eight iwi have demonstrated before what collective action can achieve.
Te Tōpuni Ngārahu emerged through the collective arrangements surrounding the historic Taranaki Maunga settlement and represents the eight post-settlement governance entities on shared priorities.
Now that same collective strength is being directed towards democratic participation.
The strategy recognises that thousands of Taranaki uri no longer live beneath the maunga. They are spread throughout Tāmaki Makaurau, Waikato, Wellington, Te Waipounamu and communities across the motu.
The kūmara vine therefore becomes more than a campaign device.
It represents whakapapa reaching across distance and connecting uri back to their whenua — while carrying a simple message into Election 2026:
Get enrolled. Get your whānau enrolled. And when voting opens, make sure Māori voices are counted.
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