Enrolling and Voting
Māori Roll & General Roll
If you’re of Māori descent and enrolling for the first time, you have an important choice to make. You need to decide which electoral roll you want to be on: the general roll or the Māori roll. The roll you choose decides which electorate you vote for both the central government and local government elections.
- If you choose to be on the Māori roll, you will get to vote for the Mayor, candidates for the Māori Ward, and the candidates for the community boards (if applicable).
- If you choose to be on the General roll, you will get to vote for the Mayor, the candidates for the general wards and the candidates for the community boards (if applicable).
If you identified that you are of New Zealand Māori descent when you enrolled to vote, you will get a Māori Electoral Option pack in the mail every 5 years (after every census). You then have four months to indicate whether you wish to stay on the same roll, or change rolls for the next 5 years. The last Māori Electoral Option was held in 2018.
For those already enrolled, the next opportunity to change rolls will be in 2024. Only Māori enrolling for the first time or re-enrolling after having previously been removed from the roll are able to choose to enrol on the Māori Roll in the interim.
To find out more visit: www.vote.nz/general-roll-or-maori-roll
Enrolment as a Ratepayer Elector
You may qualify to vote in Waipā District local body elections.
There are two types of electors:
- Residential Electors: If you’re registered to vote on the electoral roll, you are automatically enrolled to vote in local authority elections. You will receive a voting document so that you can vote by post.
- Ratepayer Electors: You may also be eligible to enrol as a non-resident ratepayers elector in a council district if both these apply:
- You are in the district valuation roll and pay rates in the council district
- The address where you are registered as a Parliamentary elector is outside that council district.
Your eligibility to enrol or be nominated as a ratepayer elector may also depend in your individual circumstances as determined by criteria in the Local Electoral Act 2001 and its regulations.
If you believe you meet the criteria to enrol as a ratepayer elector, please read and complete the below form