2019 Micronesian parliamentary election

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]

2019 Micronesian parliamentary election

← 2017 5 March 2019 2021 →

All 14 seats in Congress
Presidential election
← 2015 11 May 2019 2023 →
 
Nominee David Panuelo
Electoral vote Acclamation

President0000000 before election

Peter M. Christian

Elected
President

David Panuelo

A majority of voters voted in favour of calling a Constitutional Convention, which was subsequently elected on 5 November 2019.[2]

Electoral system

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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  1. ^ a b FSM Election 2019 Certified Results Hawaii Free Press, 8 March 2019
  2. ^ FSM announces winning constitutional convention candidates Marianas Variety, 14 November 2019
  3. ^ a b Electoral system IPU
  4. ^ Article XIV: Amendments Constitution of the Federated States of Micronesia
  5. ^ a b 32 Petitions Filed for National Elections 2019 Archived 2019-02-28 at the Wayback Machine Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia
  6. ^ FSM president likely to lose seat to House speaker Archived 2019-09-15 at the Wayback Machine Pacific News Centre, 7 March 2019
  7. ^ Ngirairikl, Oyaol (2019-03-14). "FSM President Christian loses bid for re-election". The Guam Daily Post. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
  8. ^ "PIO". Archived from the original on 2019-03-30. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  9. ^ "Former President Peter Christian among winners in Congressional special election". Island Times. 2019-07-05. Retrieved 2023-03-07.