A person must enrol if eligible. You are eligible if you meet all of these:

• are aged 18 years or older
• have at any time lived in New Zealand for one year or more (limited absences overseas from your New Zealand home are acceptable)
• are a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident.

You cannot enrol if any of these are true:

• you are in prison for a term exceeding three years
• you are in hospital under a criminal justice order relating to mental health for three years or more
• you have been found guilty of a corrupt electoral practice in the past three years
• you are a New Zealand citizen who has not been in New Zealand within the past three years (except for New Zealand officials working overseas or accompanying family)
• you are a New Zealand permanent resident who has not been in New Zealand within the past 12 months (except for New Zealand officials working overseas or accompanying family)

Electors of New Zealand Māori descent choose between being on the Māori roll or general roll when they first enrol and at the time of a Māori Electoral Option, and this places them in a Māori or general electorate accordingly. An option is held every five years soon after a census and before the redrawing of electorate boundaries, except if it is an election year in which case the option and redrawing are delayed. The next option (and new boundaries) are expected in 2012. More information is provided under System elements "Electorates".

People who have grounds to fear for their safety or that of their family through appearing on a published roll may apply to enrol on an unpublished roll.

People may provisionally enrol when aged 17 years.

People who are mentally incapable must be enrolled by an authorised person.

Electoral rolls, listing all of the people who are enrolled in an electorate are published and available in libraries, PostShops, and at the office of each registrar of electors. Enrolment data is also used to produce electoral rolls for referendums, as well as for Regional Council, District or City Council, Community Board, and District Health Board elections.

Enrolment is continuous; an elector is only removed from the roll upon death, qualifying conviction, imprisonment or mental health treatment, or when an update letter is returned “gone no address”. Data matching, direct mail and door knocking are used to help maintain the rolls between major update campaigns which occur twice in the electoral cycle.

Electors may view their own enrolment online, but the law prevents rolls being made available electronically and also restricts how rolls and roll data may be used for non-electoral purposes. Enrolment details may be entered online, but a signature is required on a printed form to complete the transaction.

To enrol or update details people can visit www.elections.org.nz, pick a form up at any PostShop, or freephone 0800 ENROL NOW (0800 36 76 56), or freetxt their name and address to 3676.

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