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“The two seats we are seeking are not necessarily to challenge the bottom line of who won,” he told Magic Talk’s Sean Plunket on Wednesday afternoon.
Instead, Tamihere says, it is an effort to expose the “rather silly” laws enshrined in the Election Law, such as the Five-Year Maori Electoral Option, which determines the number of Maori seats for the next one or two elections.
Unlike Pākehā, who are given the ability to change their electorate in each election, Maori who do not vote on the general list are locked into their Maori electorate for a period of five years until the next Maori election option.
“What the Maori Party is heading to with this, ultimately, is an amendment to the Electoral Law, where, in a sense, Maori can choose their constituency in every election, as Pākehā does,” Tamihere said.
“[The current law] it prevents us from voting on a list of our choice by choice, and that will be questioned. Part of that is this [recount] process.”
