By 3 News online staff
A recount of more than 22,000 votes in the Te Tai Tokerau electorate will begin tomorrow, with the Mana Movement citing "serious concerns" about discarding hundreds of votes.
The process has been initiated by former MP Hone Harwaira who was beaten by Labour's Kelvin Davis by a margin of nearly 750 votes.
Mr Harawira filed the application at the Kaitaia District Court for a judicial recount this afternoon and it's since been approved.
He says the application is "one step in trying to restore credibility to the electoral process in the north and, I suspect, in all other Maori electorates as well".
In early stages of voting in this year's election, Mr Harawira said he was disappointed and angry at how he believed Maori voters were being treated by Electoral Commission officials.
"By seeking a recount I can ensure that at least some of the enrolment issues will be independently examined and I hope that the Electoral Commission takes seriously in future the right of Maori voters to have their votes treated with due respect."
Regardless of whether the recount changes the result in Te Tai Tokerau, Mr Harawira says the issues need to be examined and "substantial changes" made before the next election.
Mana president Lisa McNab cited "a number of serious issues of concern" about the ability of Maori voters to exercise their right to vote.
"A judicial re-count will enable some independent scrutiny of some the processes by which hundreds of votes were discarded," she says.
"We want to ensure that the votes of the people in his electorate are counted to the full extent possible. We are especially concerned about the rejection of special votes rejected because voters could not be found on the electoral roll prepared for the 2014 general election."
A judge will preside over the effort in Whangarei and it could take up to five days.
Ms McNab says a specific request has been made for the judge to look at actual votes as well as the basis on which special votes were rejected because of the voter's enrolment status.
3 News
source: newshub archive
