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The involvement of the indigenous Maori people in New Zealand's electoral system is one of the most remarkable stories of New Zealand's political history.

New Zealand's 1853 electoral franchise was theoretically 'colour-blind'. But in reality very few Maori could qualify under the property requirement because they possessed their lands communally (as iwi, hapu or whanau groups) and not under individual freehold or leasehold title like Europeans. In 1859 the British Crown Law office confirmed that Maori could not vote unless they had individual title granted by the Crown.

European colonists generally welcomed this state of affairs, because they did not think Maori were yet 'civilised' enough to exercise such an important responsibility. They were also worried that if large numbers of Maori were enrolled, they could 'swamp' the votes of settlers in many North Island electorates.

In any case, in the 1850s and 1860s few Maori were interested in the 'Pakeha Parliament' - they preferred to deal directly with the Governor (and the Queen) or, like the Kingitanga movement, create their own political structures.

During the wars of the early 1860s, however, some European politicians argued that it was vital to assimilate Maori into the political mainstream to ensure lasting peace between the two races. They were also keen to reward those Maori tribes who had fought alongside the Crown.

Maori Representation

After much debate, in 1867 Parliament agreed to set up four electorates specifically for Maori. This solution was similar to the 'special representation' introduced for gold miners earlier that decade.

To avoid difficulties with property ownership, all Maori men over 21 were eligible to vote (and stand for Parliament).

The small number of Maori who owned individual freehold land were still allowed to vote in the European electorates. This 'dual vote' would survive until 1893.

On the other hand, four seats was a fairly modest concession: on a per capita basis at that time, Maori deserved 14 to 16 members (Europeans then had 72). In addition, the arrangement was to be temporary, lasting only five years. Most politicians expected that in due course Maori would own or rent land as individuals and the seats could be done away with.

However, it soon became clear that this process - the 'individualisation' of Maori land ownership - would take much longer. The experiment was extended in 1872 and in 1876 the Maori seats were established on a permanent basis.

By that time some of the Maori members of Parliament were pressing for an increase in the number of seats, not only to better represent their population but also to reduce the size of their huge electorates. It would be more than a century, however, before these efforts were successful.

Very few Maori took part in the first elections, held in 1868, but interest began to grow in the 1870s and 1880s. The government tried to bring all tribes into the system by establishing polling booths in areas like the King Country and Urewera.

Law changes in 1893 and 1896 completed the almost total separation of the Maori and European electoral systems. From then until 1975 only so-called 'half-castes' were allowed to choose which seats they wished to vote in.

A Victim of Neglect?

Once established, the Maori system largely suffered from official neglect. Although the secret ballot was introduced in European seats in 1870, it was not considered suitable for Maori elections. Maori continued to vote under the old verbal system - in which electors told the polling official who they wanted to vote for - until the 1938 election.

There were also no electoral rolls for the Maori seats. Electoral officials had always argued that it would be too difficult to register Maori voters (supposedly because of difficulties with language, literacy and proof of identity). Despite frequent allegations of electoral irregularities in the Maori seats, rolls were not introduced until 1948-9.

In the 1950s and 1960s the National government occasionally talked of abolishing the Maori seats. Some politicians described special representation as a form of 'apartheid', like in South Africa. But as most Maori continued to support their existence, no serious attempts were made to eliminate the seats.

In 1975 the Labour government introduced a 'Maori electoral option', to be held alongside (or following) each census. This allowed electors of Maori descent to choose whether they enrolled in general or Maori seats. In 1976, however, the newly elected National government decided that the number of Maori seats was to remain fixed at four - whatever the outcome of the subsequent options.

The Maori Seats Under MMP

The Royal Commission on the Electoral System in 1985-6 gave considerable thought to the future of the Maori seats. It concluded that the seats had not helped Maori and that they would achieve better representation through a proportional party-list system. The Commission therefore recommended that if the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system was adopted, the Maori seats should be abolished.

As the prospect of electoral reform became more real in 1992-3, some Maori began to rally to the defence of the seats. Eventually, following strong representations from Maori organisations, the seats were retained under the new MMP system. Their number was allowed to increase or decrease according to the results of the regular Maori electoral option.

Before the first MMP election in 1996 the number of Maori seats was increased, for the first time in their 129-year history, to five. In 2002 there were seven.

The Maori electoral system 'stumbled into being' in the 1860s as a solution to a supposedly temporary 'problem'. Its appropriateness and effectiveness have been the subject of debate ever since. Nevertheless, the Maori seats have survived to become one of the most distinctive features of New Zealand's electoral system.

Author for enquiry: EC
Last modified: 9 Apr 2005