Wellington - Nearly half of all Maoris registered to vote for the seven parliamentary seats reserved for New Zealand's indigenous people boycotted last weekend's general election, the Maori Party said on Wednesday.

"Something is terribly wrong with our democracy," said Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia.

She said the party had campaigned strongly to persuade their people to vote and despite many Maoris being poverty-stricken it was clear they had become seriously alienated and disenfranchised.

"There are clearly challenges ahead for parliament to increase the confidence of Maori that participation in the democratic process is worthwhile," said her co-leader Pita Sharples.

The Maori Party won five of the seven seats - out of 122 in parliament - the other two being retained by Labour, but at least another 13 members who identified themselves as Maoris were elected on Saturday.

Maori voters can choose whether to vote for a Maori seat or go on the general roll and vote in their local constituency. Maori politicians can run in one or the other.

Preliminary figures show that just under 230,000 registered on the Maori roll, but only 55 per cent of them voted. Another 175,700 were on the general roll. About 725,000 people identify themselves as Maori.

Although election officials said a record total of 2,990,000 people were enrolled, only 78.69 per cent voted, well below the 81-per-cent average and the lowest in any election since 1987, apart from 2002 when the turnout was 78.5 per cent. (dpa)