“Metiria – you’re enrolled!” declares the enrol.vote.nz website when I check to make sure. It reads very cheerfully. I feel that I would also like a small gold star next to my name, if anyone from the Electoral Commission is reading this. A universal and accessible franchise is critical to our democracy. The 19th century restriction on the franchise where only property-owning Pākehā men could vote was rightly eroded over a number of decades. But in the new millennium, severe voter restrictions keep popping up like smelly burps, and particularly under National governments. Their elitist enrolment barriers deliberately lock you out of your own democracy. When you are unenrolled you are silenced. This enforced silence means that government can wilfully ignore you, your struggles, and your aspirations for your families and communities. For Pasifika and migrant communities, their needs are rendered invisible while also being subjected to explicit political racism. For older people, it means their concerns about income or health are belittled. For young people, their aspirations for their future are discounted in favour of policies that serve politicians' self-interest. For Māori, the harm goes even deeper, justifying cultural erasure and political contempt for Treaty commitments. Political parties are launching their election campaigns and the responsible ones are also beginning their enrolment drives. That is good. But it won’t be enough to reach everyone. People who have been maligned over decades by politicians will not trust those politicians running enrolment campaigns, and fair enough too. Politicians have a very direct interest (or distaste if they are National MPs) in an accessible franchise. That is a cause for suspicion. That means we have to do this work ourselves as communities and whānau. We are the people that our own trust the most. It is very easy to check if you are enrolled. Go to enrol.vote.nz, click on Enrol or Update Online, and fill out the questionnaire to check if you are enrolled. It is either a yes or no and if it’s a no, enrol on line. That’s it. Easy as. With one phone, or one tablet or one computer, you can check everyone in your home, your group, your church, your hui. It is very important to check. People who think they are enrolled are finding they have been removed, so don’t think that just because you were enrolled last year that you still are. You need to check. It is also quite urgent. The Māori Electoral roll option closes on August 6, less than two weeks away. If you want to be on the printed roll, the deadline is October 4. That matters for alienated or first-time voters who may be put off on voting day if their name is not on the roll and they don’t know to insist on their right to vote. The absolute last day to enrol is October 25. Making sure every eligible person is enrolled to vote is not just another bit of domestic admin. It is literally country-changing. Families, marae, churches, and community groups, can work together to guarantee that no person is left unheard. For families, this is personal. A conversation at the table or the family WhatsApp, a quick check of an address and its done. It is especially important for a young person turning 18. Those who enrol early are much more likely to remain enrolled. Marae are the ukaipō of Māori communities. They are the repositories of whakapapa and cultural identity, and most importantly rangatiratanga. Marae are perfectly positioned to encourage enrolment, to use every hui to check the roll and to discuss the Māori Electoral option for those who have the choice. Church communities can speak to the dignity and worth of every person. They can frame enrolment not as a bureaucratic chore, but as an act of stewardship—a way to care for one's neighbour and the country. Community groups are key hubs for migrant groups, young people, older people, and other support networks. These groups bridge language and cultural barriers that often disenfranchise those who feel disconnected from the political process. We only have this one opportunity to decide who will spend the next three years helping or harming us. They've spent a lot of time trying to silence us. Let's spend the next few weeks making sure they can't. ■ Associate Prof Metiria Stanton Turei is a law lecturer at the University of Otago and a former Green Party co-leader.
