Nearly 3.8 million have enrolled to vote, youth rates have surged, and more voters of Māori descent have come on board since last election, according to the latest provisional results.
The Electoral Commission said on Friday that the provisional enrolment rate has reached 93.6 percent, just 1.1 percentage points below the final rate of 94.7 percent recorded at the 2023 General Election.
Chief Electoral Officer Karl Le Quesne said the figures show a good level of awareness of the new rules, including the deadline to enrol before voting that came into effect for this election.
The enrolment rate in 2023 was 94.7 percent, 94.1 percent in 2020, 92.4 percent in 2017, and 92.6 percent in 2014 by comparison.
More Māori and youth enrolled
More Māori are enrolled this election than the last, hitting 603,968 enrolments (85.9 percent) compared to 567,012 in 2023.
272,513 (45.1%) of those are on the general roll and 331,455 (54%) are on the Māori roll.
The provisional enrolment rate for 18- to 24-year-olds has also increased at 74.2%, up significantly from 53.9% on 31 July this year, which is close to the 76.7% enrolled in 2023.
Ethan Reille, 22 (Kai Tahu), spokesperson for youth movement On a Roll, says he’s seen big effort from communities this time around.
“I’m only 22, but, like, I’ve seen a couple of elections that I can remember well now, and this is probably the most engaging one I’ve seen for Māori,” he says.
“I think there’s been a lot of political conversations that have probably meant that rangatahi Māori are kind of forced and have to listen in because it impacts us more directly than probably anyone else,” he says.
He says he feels stoked with the result.
“When we started in April, we knew we had just over 50 percent of young people enrolled and getting to well over 70 percent is no small feat, especially given the circumstances we’re in where there’s no longer same-day enrolment,”.
The commission says the final numbers won’t be confirmed until after the election.
