Webinar: Māori electorates and the Māori electoral role

Last updated: 20 August 2025

Hei tautoko ki te wiki o te reo Māori, kei te whakaara anō mātou i ētahi o ā mātou pāhotanga pai rawa. He mea whakaputa te huiata nei i mua i te Kōwhiringa Pōti 2020, ā, ka wherawherahia te whanaketanga o te Pāremata o Aotearoa mai i Te Tiriti o Waitangi, tae rawa atu ki ngā tūru Māori e whitu i roto i te Pāremata.

In acknowledgement of te wiki o te reo Māori we’re bringing back some of our best content. This webinar was produced prior to the General Election 2020 and explores how the New Zealand Parliamentary landscape developed from Te Tiriti o Waitangi to seven Māori seats in Parliament.

He mea whakatū te wānanga nei nā te Tīma Whakapāpātanga Pāremata i te taha o ētahi mātanga nō Te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou, nō Te Kaitiaki Take Kōwhiri hoki.

The webinar was presented by the Parliamentary Engagement Team with experts from the University of Otago and the Electoral Commission.

I te wā nei, e 7 ngā Rohe Pōti Māori huri noa i te Ika Tapu a Māui, i Te Waka o Aoraki hoki (me ngā moutere o waho atu!). I wherawhera mātou i te whanaketanga o te ao pāremata o Aotearoa taea noatia tēnei wā, mai i Te Tiriti o Waitangi tae atu ki ngā tūru Māori e 7 i roto i te Pāremata; me te āhua o te mahi tūturu a te Rārangi Pōti Māori.

There are currently 7 Māori Electorates across the North and South Islands (and outer islands!). We explored how the New Zealand parliamentary landscape developed to this point from Te Tiriti o Waitangi to 7 Māori seats in Parliament; and how the Māori Electoral Roll works in practice.

He whakahirahira kia rēhita te tangata ki te pōti, mā reira e whakamahia ai tana tikanga ki te kōwhiri i ōna māngai. Katoa ngā uri Māori e āhei ana ki te kōwhiri ki te rēhita ki te Rārangi Arowhānui, ki te Rārangi Māori rānei.

It’s important that people are enrolled to vote so that they can exercise their right to choose their representatives. Anyone of Māori descent can choose to be on the General Roll or the Māori Roll.