December 01, 2020
More Maori on rolls and voting
The Electoral Commission says there was a big increase in the number of young people turning out to vote at the 2020 General Election.
Chief Electoral Officer Alicia Wright says there were more people enrolled across the general and Māori rolls, with the final enrolment rate of 94.1 percent being the highest since 2008.
Turnout at 82.2 percent was the highest since 1999.
She says the age breakdown released today on www.elections.nz shows the biggest gains in turnout in the younger age groups.
That has positive implications for future elections, as the younger people are when they start voting, the more likely they are to be voters for life.
Turnout in the Māori seats ranged from 65.3 percent in Tāmaki Makaurau – 6 percentage points up on 2017 – to 75.3 percent in Te Tai Tonga, which was 7 points up.
The other electorates apart from Ikaroa Rawhiti were slightly up on 2017.
Māori enrolment was lowest among the 25 to 29 years old age group, although in Tāmaki Makaurau low enrolment levels continued through the 30s.
Copyright © 2020, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com