Electoral Rolls New Zealand.

Electoral Rolls 1853 - 1879 contain: Surname; First Names; Residence; Qualification (freehold, leasehold, resident etc) description of land as per claim per voting rights. 

Who qualified to vote? Men aged over 21 with:

Freehold land to the value of £50; leasehold land with an annual value of £10; A tenement within limits of the town with an annual value of £10; A tenement without limits of the town with an annual value of £10.

Restrictions: Aliens and those convicted and those serving sentences for certain crimes were excluded from voting.

Electoral Rolls 1879 – 1893 all men were granted the right to vote regardless of property holdings

Electoral Rolls 1893 onwards all women aged over 21 had the right to vote

New Zealand Electoral Rolls on Microfiche

Please always read the instructions at the beginning of Fiche 1 and also the index so that you know how many lists there are pertaining to the electorates you are searching. There may be a main roll, supplements, claims, amendments and objections.

Library holds volumes for the years:

1853; 1865 & 1866 (incomplete); 1867; 1868; 1869; 1870; 1871; 1872; 1873; 1874; 1875; 1876; 1877 & 1878 & 1879 (incomplete);1880; 1881; 1882; 1884; 1885; 1886; 1887; 1890 (incomplete); 1893; 1894; 1896; 1897; 1899; 1900; 1902; 1903; 1905/06; 1908; 1911; 1914; 1919; 1922; 1925; 1928; 1931; 1935; 1938; 1941; 1943; 1946; 1949/51; 1954; 1957; 1960; 1963; 1966/67; 1969; 1972; 1975; 1978; 1981.

Many of these rolls are now on Ancestry.com.au at the following web address

http://search.ancestry.com.au/search/db.aspx?dbid=1836

New Zealand National Electoral Rolls Published in book form only

1984, 1987, 1990, 1993, 1996; 1999; 2002, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016

Maori Electoral Rolls

Prior to 1949, Maori’s voted in Maori Electorates by declaration.

1867 – New Zealand was divided into four Maori Electorates, based on ethnicity, and tribal affiliation including “half castes”

1879 – Male Maori’s (including half caste’s) who owned property valued more than £15 were given an additional ratepayer qualification for European Electorates, but they could not vote in both Maori & European Electorates.

1896 – Maori ratepayer qualification was abolished with the freehold qualification

1908 - Records were kept of Maori’s who voted in the 1908 elections, but only lists Northern, Eastern & Western Maori have survived. They have been published on microfiche. These contain the full name, address and hapu of each voter. Although names are listed alphabetically, the first name may proceed the surname or vice versa (Library holds complete set)

1919 – Rolls were compiled for the 1918 election but were never used. They cover all four Maori Electorates and are published on microfiche known as

New Zealand Maori Electoral Roll 1919   (Library holds complete set)

1949 – Rolls were prepared for the General Election

1956 -  Maori Registration became compulsory

1983 – Maoris of more than one half descent were required to enroll in one of the Maori Electorates, while persons with less than one half of Maori descent were required to register and vote in an European Electorate. Only those who were exactly one-half Maori and one-half non Maori could choose which system they preferred

 Habitation Indexes  2001, 2003, 2005 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

These indexes lists, every street in the electorate and lists all the registered voters by house number so you can do a reverse search and identify all those living at that address. Sets of these indexes above exist at the National Library in New Zealand, all in published book form only. Selected public libraries throughout New Zealand hold Habitation Indexes for their own region only.