Māori voters are taking to social media to express frustration after discovering their enrolment records are missing from the system, a concern heightened ahead of the upcoming Tāmaki Makaurau by-election.
Several voters report being met with the message “no record found” when checking their details on the Vote NZ website, including several high-profile Māori actors who say they’ve long been enrolled and actively vote.
Keisha Castle-Hughes, best known for her role in Whale Rider, told Marae she was shocked by the result.
“I went to check that I was enrolled. I’ve been enrolled on the Māori roll for many years, and in fact, I wasn’t enrolled or registered at all,” she said.
“It’s quite frustrating, especially when we’ve done our due diligence at this point. I’ve voted many times and [am] a staunch advocate of voting.”
Actor Te Kohe Tuhaka, recently featured in Apple TV’s Chief of War, shared a similar experience.
“This is a bit concerning, e te whānau, because I know for a fact that I’m registered... I don’t know what in the Harry Potter black magic is going on here with the missing record.”
Tuhaka said he re-registered, waited four hours for the system to update, only to receive the same error message.
Te Pāti Māori co-leader, Debbie Ngārewa Packer, says they were contacted by a few hundred that have said they’ve gone to check on their enrolments and they’ve been changed.
“Some of them have never moved, and they’ve never not voted.”
“There is a concern about that process, especially with the changes the government are proposing. They need to get that sorted before anything else.”
No technical issues
Anusha Guler, Deputy Chief Executive of Operations at the Electoral Commission, acknowledged that some users are having trouble finding their details.
“We have checked, and there are no technical issues with our enrol online system,” she said.
“If you’re Māori, I also want to assure you that your roll choice — Māori roll or general roll — is up to you. We won’t put you on either roll by default, and we won’t change your roll without your permission.”
