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2019 Micronesian parliamentary election
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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]
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Electoral system
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]
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Campaign
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
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
Referendum
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.
By state
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Aftermath
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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