Young members of Tuhoe at the Tūhoe festival this weekend, are encouraging their peers to to sign up to the Māori electoral roll, to help increase Māori representation in Parliament.
Montana Ray Porima Photo: RNZ/ John Boynton
From next week, Māori voters have the chance to pick whether they are on the Māori or the general electoral roll.
Montana Ray Porima is a law student from Waikato University who returned home for the Tūhoe Ahurei, in Rotorua this weekend.
She voted for the first time at last year's election on the Māori Roll and says young Māori have a powerful voice.
"I think we should definitely get involved in it because there's not enough people. Youth are the biggest group of voters that don't vote and it's their vote that counts the most, really."
The next opportunity to change rolls will be in 2024.