Enrolling to vote
Find out how to enrol to vote.
On this page
You'll need to be enrolled before you can vote in a general or local election. This is super important and why you see Electoral Commission workers out and about getting people to enrol. The Electoral Commission runs general elections.
Enrolling to vote means signing up with your current information so that you’re included on the electoral roll – the official list of people registered to vote.
Who can vote
You can enrol to vote if you’re 18 or older, a New Zealand citizen or resident for electoral purposes, and have lived in New Zealand for more than one year continuously at some time in your life.
Resident for electoral purposes means you’re living in New Zealand lawfully and you're not required to leave within a specified time, e.g. you have a Resident Visa.
Find out if you’re eligible to enrol to vote
How to enrol
When you enrol, you provide information including:
your name
your date of birth
your residential address
whether you want to be on the or the general roll or the Māori roll (if you're of Māori descent).
After you’ve enrolled once, it’s important that you keep your information up to date. If you move to a different address or change your name, you’ll need to update this with the Electoral Commission.
You can enrol to vote or check and update your details on the vote.nz website. Alternatively, you can ask the Electoral Commission to send you a paper form to fill in.
Enrol to vote/check or update your details
To vote in the 2026 general election, you will need to be enrolled by midnight Sunday 25 October 2026.
Māori roll
People of New Zealand Māori descent can choose to enrol on the Māori roll or the general roll. Once you have enrolled, you can change which roll you‘re on, except in the three months before an election.
If you’re on the Māori roll during a general election, you will vote for a candidate in the Māori electorate (voting area) you live in.
If you’re on the Māori roll during a local election, you can vote for Māori ward candidates (if your council has a Māori ward).
Find out more about the Māori roll
Unpublished roll
If you’re concerned about your personal safety due to having your information publicly available on the electoral roll, you can apply to be on a confidential unpublished roll.