NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Grieving family say young Northland leader's vote should count

By Mikaela Collins
Reporter·Northern Advocate·
20 Sep, 2017 06:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Mehara Tamaki was only 19 but has been described as wise beyond her years. Photo/Supplied

Mehara Tamaki was only 19 but has been described as wise beyond her years. Photo/Supplied

At 19-years-old Mehara Tamaki was already regarded as a powerful leader with a passion for politics.

The young Whangarei woman died of a medical condition last Monday and her friends and whanau hope her legacy will be a change to the Electoral Act which declares the early vote Mehara cast will not be counted.

Her sister Kataraina Tamaki and cousin David Heke said Mehara always had a love for politics.

"Politics have always been a thing for our family. We all took part in the Foreshore and Seabed march back in 2004 and a lot of other hikoi we were on.

"We were always amongst all of that stuff but Mehara had an extra passion for politics and she loved being in that space and she shined being in that space," said Kataraina.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mehara was the second youngest of four girls and adored her "darlings" - her nieces. She wanted to be Prime Minister and planned to go university to study politics next year.

She had campaigned during the last election and had been waiting ever since to be of legal age to vote. But Mehara's vote is not being counted because of Section 178 (4) of the Electoral Act which states:

"Where a person who has voted in an election dies before the close of the day before polling day, the Returning Officer shall, on receiving from a Registrar of Births and Deaths notification of that person's death, disallow that person's vote."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Kataraina and Mr Heke said as part of her legacy - they want that law changed.

"A few of us went and voted [on Monday]- a van load of us - that voted for her," said Kataraina.

"Because of the law, they all decided their vote would go for her," Mr Heke said.

A service for Mehara was held Otangarei Marae on Saturday and she was then taken to Mokau Urupa in Whangaruru.

Mehara Tamaki passed away last Monday - her whanau want her vote to count.
Mehara Tamaki passed away last Monday - her whanau want her vote to count.

Among the people and groups calling for a law change is political party the Mana Movement - Mehara was a national executive representative of the group.

Whangarei mayor Sheryl Mai, who knew Mehara through her involvement in Future Leaders and the Whangarei District Council Youth Advisory Group, is another.

Ms said Mehara was wise beyond her years, passionate about politics, and not afraid to challenge the status quo.

"I would describe her as powerful and courageous and just larger than life. Really focused, her physical presence was something but her whole spiritual presence was with her as well - you knew you were in the room with someone amazing."

Ms Mai said if nothing else, the "tragedy" has got people to discuss the Electoral Act which she said should be changed.

"In hindsight, retrospectively, once the voting period is open and someone has cast their vote than that should count regardless of whether their alive or not," she said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Veeshayne Patuwai, the programme founder of Urutapu - a leadership programme Mehara was involved with, said voting was important to Mehara.

"She did everything she needed to do, she made the effort to vote early, so I absolutely think her vote should count," she said.

"She was one of the first of our girls to vote she was like 'who are you voting for, have you read the policies, do you know what they stand for?'.'"

Mehara was also part of youth mentoring programme Future Leaders.

Peter Boyd, Whangarei capability coach for the programme, said Mehara had a strong personality with clear opinions.

"We helped each other with different perspectives on different issues. She was a strong personality and got along with a lot of people."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A petition has been started calling for a change to the Electoral Act. Visit www.change.org/p/electoral-commission-new-zealand-make-mehara-s-vote-count.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Fourth measles case in Wairarapa linked to overseas travel cluster

11 Jul 04:28 AM
Wellington

Wellington Chamber of Commerce boss resigns abruptly

11 Jul 04:17 AM
New Zealand

Murder trial video shows chaotic final minutes of man's life

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Fourth measles case in Wairarapa linked to overseas travel cluster

Fourth measles case in Wairarapa linked to overseas travel cluster

11 Jul 04:28 AM

Locals are being urged to get immunised as another case is confirmed.

Wellington Chamber of Commerce boss resigns abruptly

Wellington Chamber of Commerce boss resigns abruptly

11 Jul 04:17 AM
Murder trial video shows chaotic final minutes of man's life

Murder trial video shows chaotic final minutes of man's life

'Dumbfounded': Murder accused allegedly asked about dead mum's money at funeral

'Dumbfounded': Murder accused allegedly asked about dead mum's money at funeral

11 Jul 04:00 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP