Who can choose to be on the Māori Electoral roll

Only New Zealand Māori and the descendants of NZ Māori can register for the Māori roll.

If you’re whāngai or you’re an adopted child in an NZ Māori family, you can only register for the Māori roll if you’re Māori yourself.

Registering for the Māori roll

Enrol or check your enrolment details online

If you said you were a descendant of NZ Māori when you enrolled to vote, you’ll get a Māori Electoral Option pack in the mail every 5 years — after every census.

If you’re a descendant of NZ Māori but didn’t say so when you first enrolled, you can update your enrolment details online.

Support is available to help you if you have a disability.

Enrol and vote if you have a disability

How the Māori roll works

If you're Māori, which roll you choose is completely up to you. Your choice determines who’ll represent you in Parliament.

On the general roll, you’ll vote for:

• a political party (the parties are always the same on both rolls)
• the candidate you want to represent the general electorate you live in.

On the Māori roll, you’ll vote for:

• a political party (the parties are always the same on both rolls)
• the candidate you want to represent the Māori electorate you live in.

Māori representation and the Māori electorates

There are currently 7 Māori electorates — the results of the Māori Electoral Option and census data are used to determine the number of Māori electorates there will be in Parliament.  They are also used revise the electorate boundaries after every census.