Dear Mr Ross

 

The following information is provided in response to your email below for
information under the Official Information Act:

 

 1. Electors of Māori descent who are registered on the general rolls are
not included in the Māori electoral population used to determine the
number of Māori electorates.
 2. The number of general and Māori electorates and electoral populations
used to draw electoral boundaries are calculated by the Government
Statistician following each Census and Māori Electoral Option in
accordance with formula set out in the Electoral Act 1993. The
Government Statistician is required to use total population, as MPs
represent everyone in New Zealand, not just those who have registered
to vote. The number of people of Māori descent at the 2018 Census was
896,567. 52.8% of Māori electors (268,407) were on the Māori electoral
roll at the end of the 2018 Māori Electoral Option. The Māori
electoral population also includes a proportion of people of Māori
descent who are not registered as electors and a proportion of people
of Māori descent who are under the age of 18. As a result the Māori
electoral population used to determine the number of Māori electorates
for the 2020 and 2023 general elections is 473,077. The number of
Māori electorates is calculated by dividing the Māori electoral
population (473,077) by the South Island quota (65,458) which results
in 7 electorates. The number of people required for each Māori
electorate (or quota) is slightly higher than the general electorates
at 67,582. StatsNZ has produced a paper to explain how they calculate
the number of electorates, which is available [1]here. The table
below, taken from this paper, sets out the relevant numbers for the
Māori electoral population:

 

 3. The number of people on the General roll as at 29 January 2020 was
3,009,379. There are currently 64 MPs representing General
electorates. The number of people currently on the general roll
divided by the number of General electorate MPs is therefore
3,009,37964 = 47,022. 
 4. The number of people on the Māori roll as at 29 January 2020 was
243,776. There are currently 7 MPs representing Māori electorates. The
number of people currently on the Māori roll divided by the number of
Māori electorates is therefore 243,7767 = 34,825. 

 

Please let us know if you have any further questions. You have the right
under section 28(3) of the Act to complain to the Ombudsman if you are not
satisfied with the response to your request.

 

 

Electoral Commission | Te Kaitiaki Take Kōwhiri  

PO Box 3220 | Level 10, 34 – 42 Manners Street | Wellington | 6140 | New
Zealand

Phone +64 4 495 0030 | Fax +64 4 495 0031 | [2]http://www.elections.org.nz

[3]cid:image006.jpg@01D33608.75491B40

 

 

-----Original Message-----

From: Mr M P Ross <[4][FOI #12056 email]>

Sent: Monday, 20 January 2020 12:10 PM

To: Public Enquiries <[5][email address]>

Subject: Official Information request - Is the number of Māori
representation seats determined by the Māori population or those on the
Māori Electoral Roll?

 

Dear Electoral Commission,

 

As of 30th November 2019 there were 243,606 Māori registered on the Māori
roll.
([6]https://elections.nz/stats-and-research/...)

 

There currently are 7 Māori electorates which correlates to one elected
representative per 34,800 electors.

 

To put this into context, the average number of voting electors in the
general roll per electorate, which according to Statistics New Zealand
([7]https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-re...)
is 65,178. As people can identify as Māori however choose to vote in the
general roll (as approximately 229,471 Māori were register to be
represented by the general roll MP's in 2018) .

 

Basically all Māori voters are being included in a Māori Electorate, even
if they don't vote for a Māori electoral representative seat?

 

Therefore, under the Official Information Act, I ask the following.

 

1) Why are all General Roll Māori voters being included as being
represented in both Māori and New Zealand General Roll statistics to
determine the number of Maori electoral seats in an election?

 

2) Based on the NZ average of 65,178 registered constituents per General
Role Electorate, and only 34,800 registered constituents per Māori Roll
electorate, why isn't there only 4  Māori Electorate Seats in Parliament?

 

3) How many people are on the General Roll currently (latest data you
have) and are represented by how many electoral MPs, as a ratio?

 

4) How many people are on the Māori Roll currently (latest data you have)
and are represented by how many electoral MPs, as a ratio?

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Mr M P Ross

 

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References

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