Nearly 50,000 not enrolled with Maori and youth majority

ONE NEWS: A voter recruitment drive has seen 50,000 voters struck off the electoral roll.

Last month, advertisements went out on the airwaves and hundreds of thousands of enrolment update packs were sent out in an effort to get voters on the electoral role.

But, the Electoral Enrolment Centre says 49,641 voters have been removed because their enrolment packs have been returned as undeliverable.

Electoral Enrolment Centre national manager Murray Wicks says that equates to a complete electorate, or about the same as the winning margin at the last election.

Trouble spots for voter registration include Auckland central, Wellington central, Dunedin North, and the Maori seats of Waiariki and Ikaroa Rawhiti.

In particular, Maori and youth over-represent those voters who have been removed from the roll.

The seven Maori seats stand out as among the worst affected with around 7,000 voters being removed.

Young voters are also prominent, making up 40% of those removed.

This could be bad news for the left as support is traditionally strong in these voter groups for Labour, the Greens and the Maori party.

Wicks says the numbers are not a surprise and are typically what crops up in an election year.

But, he says the numbers are serious and those affected will need to re-enrol so their votes count at this year's election.

"I urge people, if they haven't received their enrolment update pack, to get a form, complete it and send it in to us".