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Why I changed from the Maori roll back to the General roll
My tribes are Ngā Rauru and Ngati Porou. Prior to the 2020 election, there was a TV ad that promoted joining the Maori roll: "You'll be able to vote for any party you like when there's an election". To my dismay, I couldn't vote for the candidate I wanted, only those in Maori seats. Though they seemed like nice people, I didn't think they were the best people for the job.
Then came local elections. I volunteer for a number of organisations, so decided to run for Council because I wanted to help. On election day I wasn't able to vote for myself because I was on the Maori role and running for a General Council seat. That seemed crazy to Me.
Now I think the Maori roll isn't about representing Maori, it's about restricting their democratic right to choose who they want to vote for so smaller special interest groups can attain power.
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