Photo: AFP or licensors
Correction: A line has been added to make clear the Electoral Commission is not involved in local body elections.
Whanganui Māori ward candidates are shocked that they have been left out of an official candidate profile booklet.
Local elections voting opened on Tuesday with a Māori ward referendum being held at 42 councils including Whanganui. People will be voting for the first time whether to have two representatives on the Māori ward.
The error in printing was identified and has been owned by Electoral Officer Warwick Lampp, who said the five candidates’ names were correctly included on the voting papers, but candidates’ profiles were missing from the booklet.
“Unfortunately, the error occurred in the proofing and printing process,” Lampp said.
“The buck stops with me, I take complete responsibility for the error and apologise to the candidates and Māori ward voters for any confusion.”
He said all 4810 Māori ward electors were being sent an individual letter this week with candidate profiles included.
Māori ward candidate Julie Herewini feared that the missing profiles only being sent to Māori roll voters in the district, meant those on the general roll were unable to make an informed decision around keeping Māori wards.
“It’s not just those voters having the information in order to make informed decisions about who represents them. But it’s also the fact that we haven’t had a Māori ward before – we haven’t had the opportunity to show the value of having the Māori ward seats around the table.
“Whilst [Māori] are only 27 percent of the make-up of our community, our responsibility to our wai, to our whenua, to our taiao and all those things has impacts for the whole of our community, not just for Māori constituents.”
Yesterday, her excitement to vote turned into disappointment when she saw the profile booklet excluding her and the other four candidates. She thought her husband had jokingly ripped out the pages.
‘This is bigger than us’
She said all of the Māori ward candidates were standing strong as a collective regardless of who takes the seats.
“We’ve been really clear as an ohu that actually, this isn’t about us, this is bigger than us. This is about having representation around the table and irrespective of who takes the two seats around the table we will have strong advocates for a te ao Māori point of view.
“It’s actually absolutely gutting. We’re just trying to kind of find our bearings and figure out the way forward.”
Call to scrap Māori ward poll in light of error
They want the referendum to be scrapped.
“How can you hold a binding referendum if people don’t have the information to make an informed decision about whether they keep it or not? So, scrapping it would hopefully ensure that the Māori ward seats are retained for this term and the next terms,” Herewini said.
Photo: Supplied / Google Maps
Whanganui District Council chief executive David Langford said the omission of Māori ward candidate profiles from the information booklet supplied with voting papers this week was incredibly disappointing.
He wanted “immediate action by ElectionNZ to address the situation”.
He will be meeting with the managing director of ElectionNZ this afternoon.
“I am assured they have already started the process of getting the missing information out to voters.
“Just over half of submissions received when we consulted our community last year were in favour of Māori wards and we’re concerned this incident could have a negative impact on this year’s referendum on Māori wards.”
While this error was not a council mistake, Langford apologised to the Māori ward candidates affected and to the voting community.
“This is not a mana enhancing way to treat our Māori ward candidates who’ve taken the courageous step of putting themselves forward.”
Langford supported calls for a review of the incident.
“Examining mistakes is the only way we learn from them, so they are not repeated.”
Te Pāti Māori also unhappy
Te Pāti Māori has also also called out the Electoral Commission and Whanganui District Council for excluding Māori ward candidates from the official candidate profile booklet.
The Electoral Commission is not responsible for local body elections. Te Pāti Māori has been approached for an explanation.
The party said the move undermined Māori democracy, and followed allegations of “voter suppression” after some Māori reported being taken off the Māori roll.
Party co-leader and MP for Te Tai Hauaūru Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said the issue went to the “heart” of whether Māori voters could “meaningfully participate in democracy”.
“This is systemic disenfranchisement. Māori are being denied a fair process in our own rohe. Enough is enough. The integrity of these elections is in question unless there is immediate redress,” Ngarewa-Packer said.
Te Pāti Māori wanted:
Immediate correction to ensure Māori voters are provided with correct, accessible, and visible candidate information
A full independent investigation to ensure these failures are not swept aside as “errors” and to guarantee they will not happen again
The party intended standing alongside Whanganui Māori ward candidates and with all whānau demanding fairness and accountability.
All candidate information, including video profiles, is available on the council website.
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