Petition for poll on Ruapehu District Council Māori ward fails validation process

The petition for a poll on Ruapehu's proposed Māori ward failed at the first hurdle last week. Photo / File

A petition calling for a poll on the Ruapehu District Council's proposed Māori ward has been deemed invalid.

Electoral officer Warwick Lampp said the petition did not meet the required number of signatures.

Lampp would not say how many signatures were presented, nor how many were, or were not, subsequently validated.

Under the Local Electoral Act, if a local authority votes to establish a Māori ward, registered voters can demand a poll on the issue by way of a petition. In the Ruapehu District, at least 385 signatures are required to meet the 5 per cent threshold to trigger a poll.

All signatories to the petition must have been enrolled to vote in the district's previous local body election in 2019, and must reside in the district.

The council originally told the Chronicle the petition had around 550 signatures that were awaiting validation as of last Wednesday.

However, the council later said that figure was incorrect and it was unaware how many signatures, validated or not, were included in the petition.

It is believed that the organisation behind the action is Hobson's Pledge, a lobby group that campaigns against what it calls "legislation, policy and regulations that will differentiate New Zealanders based upon their ethnicity or ancestry".

The campaign for a referendum on the Māori ward decision drew controversy last week, after it was revealed a person was charged with assault after an incident while collecting signatures in Taumarunui.

It was also alleged that the group was not being upfront with members of the public, with one member of the public saying they were told they should sign the petition even if they supported a Māori ward.

Hobson's Pledge spokesman Don Brash said the group didn't intend to intentionally mislead members of the public.

"I wasn't present, so I can't speak dogmatically, but to the best of my knowledge, nobody who was gathering signatures was under any illusion of what they were doing," Brash said.

"They were asking people to get signatures for a referendum on the issue. Were some people confused? Perhaps they may have been, but that certainly wasn't our intention."

The petitioners now have until February 22 to submit a valid petition.