Summarised by Centrist
During the 2022 local body elections, complaints were made against Manurewa Marae staff for allegedly collecting voting papers while delivering campaign materials for the Manurewa-Papakura Action Team. Despite these complaints, no police referrals were made.
Why?
The complaint was withdrawn from Election Services, according to the Post, because the complainant “feared a backlash within the South Auckland community.”
This team included prominent marae figures such as Natasha Kemp, Rangi McLean, and Hilda Peters. Kemp, now a Te Pāti Māori (TPM) MP, was accused of soliciting votes, a practice highlighted during a Facebook Live session with TPM party president John Tamihere.
The Post quotes Tamihere saying the following:
“[J]ust got to motivate your whānau, get on the phone, go around their houses, pick up their voting forms, tick the boxes for them. It’s probably illegal, but I’m asking you to do it anyway.”
And that the voting process is “weighted towards older, non-Māori white fullas”.
He also boasted that voting forms “ticked or not” will be “delivered in the right place with the right vote.”
Allegations of offering free food to influence votes also emerged but were not addressed by election officials.
Recent investigations have scrutinised the use of private data collected during the census and COVID immunisation drives, raising concerns about its misuse for political gain.
