2019 Micronesian parliamentary election
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Parliamentary elections were held in the Federated States of Micronesia on 5 March 2019, alongside a referendum on calling a Constitutional Convention. All 14 seats in Congress were up for election, and all 13 incumbents standing for re-election were returned to Congress.[1]
A majority of voters voted in favour of calling a Constitutional Convention, which was subsequently elected on 5 November 2019.[2]
Electoral system[edit]
The 14 members of Congress were elected by two methods; ten were elected in single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting for two year terms, while four were at-large Senator, with one elected from each state for a four-year term.[3]
Following the elections, the President and Vice-President were elected by the Congress, with only the four at-large Senators allowed to be candidates.[3]
Unlike a constitutional referendum, which requires 75% of the vote in three of the four states to vote in favour in order for the proposal to be approved, referendums on calling constitutional referendums require only a simple majority of the vote.[4]
Campaign[edit]
A total of 32 candidates were originally registered to contest the elections,[5] although Chuuk Electoral District 1 candidate Mithasy Mark later dropped out, leaving Florencio Singkoro Harper to run unopposed.[1] Former President Joseph Urusemal was the only candidate for the Senatorial seat in Yap State, whilst Victor Gouland ran unopposed in Electoral District 2 in Chuuk State.[5]
Referendums[edit]
A national referendum was held alongside the parliamentary election in which voters were asked whether they were in favor of calling a constitutional convention.[6]
An independence referendum was scheduled to be held in Chuuk State on the same day, but was postponed.
Results[edit]
Incumbent president Peter M. Christian was not elected to Congress, making him ineligible for a second term. He lost the Pohnpei At-Large election by 59 votes.[7]
Congress[edit]
| State | District | Candidate | Votes | % | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chuuk | At-Large | Wesley Simina | 17,270 | 83.06 | Re-elected |
| Erin Eram | 3,523 | 16.94 | |||
| Election District 1 | Florencio Singkoro Harper | 2,975 | 100 | Re-elected unopposed | |
| Election District 2 | Victory Gouland | 2,694 | 100 | Re-elected unopposed | |
| Election District 3 | Derensio Konman | 4,616 | 67.06 | Re-elected | |
| Eflove Mailos | 2,267 | 32.94 | |||
| Election District 4 | Tiwiter Aritos | 5,062 | 85.03 | Re-elected | |
| Manuel Rawit | 593 | 9.96 | |||
| Smith Paulus | 298 | 5.01 | |||
| Election District 5 | Robson Urak Romlow | 1,119 | 39.55 | Re-elected | |
| Vidalino Jones Raatior | 708 | 25.03 | |||
| Zander Refilong | 463 | 16.37 | |||
| Arisao Aichem | 353 | 12.48 | |||
| Joseph Konno, Jr. | 186 | 6.57 | |||
| Kosrae | At-Large | Yosiwo George | 1,824 | 50.14 | Elected |
| Aren Palik | 1,814 | 49.86 | |||
| Election District | Paliknoa Welly | 2,130 | 58.82 | Re-elected | |
| Johnson Asher | 1,491 | 41.18 | |||
| Pohnpei | At-Large | David Panuelo | 6,774 | 50.22 | Re-elected |
| Peter M. Christian | 6,714 | 49.78 | |||
| Election District 1 | Ferny Perman | 2,397 | 52.88 | Re-elected | |
| Merlynn Abello-Alfonso | 2,136 | 47.12 | |||
| Election District 2 | Dion Neth | 2,077 | 39.90 | Re-elected | |
| Berney Martin | 1,105 | 21.23 | |||
| Herman Semes, Jr. | 1,020 | 19.60 | |||
| Quincy Lawrence | 1,003 | 19.27 | |||
| Election District 3 | Esmond Moses | 2,543 | 68.77 | Re-elected | |
| Marstella Jack | 1,155 | 31.23 | |||
| Yap | At-Large | Joseph Urusemal | 2,371 | 100 | Re-elected unopposed |
| Election District | Isaac Figir | 2,225 | 90.12 | Re-elected | |
| Fidelik Thiyer-Fanoway | 244 | 9.88 | |||
| Source: PIO | |||||
Referendum[edit]
The referendum proposal was approved by 61% of voters overall. A majority was in favour in Kosrae and Pohnpei, but it was rejected in Chuuk and Yap.[8] However, as an overall majority of voters approved the proposal, a Constitutional Convention was elected on 5 November 2019.
| Choice | Popular vote | State vote | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ||
| For | 10,033 | 60.84 | 2 |
| Against | 6,458 | 39.16 | 2 |
| Invalid/blank votes | – | – | |
| Total | 16,491 | 100 | 4 |
| Registered voters/turnout | – | ||
| Source: PIO | |||
By state[edit]
| State | For | Against | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |
| Chuuk | 1,545 | 44.51 | 1,926 | 55.49 |
| Kosrae | 1,476 | 75.46 | 480 | 24.54 |
| Pohnpei | 5,948 | 68.07 | 2,790 | 31.93 |
| Yap | 1,064 | 45.74 | 1,262 | 54.26 |
| Source: Direct Democracy | ||||
Aftermath[edit]
On 4 July 2019 a special election was held in Pohnpei and Kosrae to fill the at-large seats vacated by President Panuelo and Vice President George, respectively. Peter M. Christian was elected in Pohnpei, while Aren Palik won in Kosrae.[9]
References[edit]
- ^ a b FSM Election 2019 Certified Results Hawaii Free Press, 8 March 2019
- ^ FSM announces winning constitutional convention candidates Marianas Variety, 14 November 2019
- ^ a b Electoral system IPU
- ^ Article XIV: Amendments Constitution of the Federated States of Micronesia
- ^ a b 32 Petitions Filed for National Elections 2019 Archived 2019-02-28 at the Wayback Machine Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia
- ^ FSM president likely to lose seat to House speaker Archived 2019-09-15 at the Wayback Machine Pacific News Centre, 7 March 2019
- ^ Ngirairikl, Oyaol (2019-03-14). "FSM President Christian loses bid for re-election". The Guam Daily Post. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
- ^ "PIO". Archived from the original on 2019-03-30. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
- ^ "Former President Peter Christian among winners in Congressional special election". Island Times. 2019-07-05. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
| Parliamentary elections | |
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| Constitutional Conventions | |
| Referendums | |
