Papatoetoe is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate, and is part of greater Auckland.
The 1977 electoral redistribution was the most overtly political since the Representation Commission had been established through an amendment to the Representation Act in 1886, initiated by Muldoon's National Government. As part of the 1976 census, a large number of people failed to fill out an electoral re-registration card, and census staff had not been given the authority to insist on the card being completed. This had little practical effect for people on the general roll, but it transferred Māori to the general roll if the card was not handed in. Together with a northward shift of New Zealand's population, this resulted in five new electorates having to be created in the upper part of the North Island. The electoral redistribution was very disruptive, and 22 electorates were abolished, while 27 electorates were newly created (including Papatoetoe) or re-established. These changes came into effect for the 1978 election. Papatoetoe was created from parts of the Mangere and Manukau electorates in the 1977 redistribution.
The electorate is urban-suburban, based on the suburb of Papatoetoe, and was in Manukau City, South Auckland. At various times it also included parts of the suburbs of Ōtara, Wiri and Mangere. To the north it bordered on the Tamaki River, and between 1984 and 1987 it reached the eastern edge of Manukau Harbour. It also bordered on the electorates of Otahuhu,Hunua, Manurewa and Mangere from 1978 to 1984, and Panmure, Otara, Manurewa and Mangere from 1984 to 1996. The Papatoetoe electorate was eventually absorbed into Mangere and the newly created Manukau East electorates for the 1996 election.