Election results confirm six-way race held for Maori party vote

A specialist Horizon Research Maori Panel survey between November 15 and 21, 2011, found a six-way split could occur for the party votes of Maori nationwide at the November 26 general election.

The survey covered 779 Maori respondents who intended to cast a party vote.

Respondents are members of the specialist Horizon Research Maori Panel, recruited to match the New Zealand Maori population aged 18+.

Respondents were voting in both general and Maori seats.

The preliminary official election results for Maori seats only confirm a six-way contest occurred for party votes in the Maori seats.

Though party vote support levels are higher for Labour in the Maori seats than general seats, the six-way split is confirmed in this comparison of Maori seat party vote v Horizon all-seats party vote:

The party vote contest in the 2008 general election was confined mainly to the Labour and Maori parties.

The Horizon Research Maori Panel survey is weighted by age, region, highest education, personal income, employment status, and gender to provide a representative sample of the Maori population. At a 95% confidence level the maximum margin of error is +/- 3.5%.