| Type: | legislative | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Election Date: | 5 March 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country: | Federated States of Micronesia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Previous Year: | 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Previous Election: | 2017 Micronesian parliamentary election | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Next Year: | 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Next Election: | 2021 Micronesian parliamentary election | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seats For Election: | All 14 seats in Congress | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Module: |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.
A majority of voters voted in favour of calling a Constitutional Convention, which was subsequently elected on 5 November 2019.[1]
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.[2]
Following the elections, the President and Vice-President were elected by the Congress, with only the four at-large Senators allowed to be candidates.[2]
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.[3]
A total of 32 candidates were originally registered to contest the elections,[4] although Chuuk Electoral District 1 candidate Mithasy Mark later dropped out, leaving Florencio Singkoro Harper to run unopposed.[5] 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.[4]
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.
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]
| State | District | Candidate | Votes | % | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left rowspan=14 | Chuuk | align=left rowspan=2 | 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 | |||
| align=left rowspan=2 | Election District 3 | Derensio Konman | 4,616 | 67.06 | Re-elected | ||
| Eflove Mailos | 2,267 | 32.94 | |||||
| align=left rowspan=3 | Election District 4 | Tiwiter Aritos | 5,062 | 85.03 | Re-elected | ||
| Manuel Rawit | 593 | 9.96 | |||||
| Smith Paulus | 298 | 5.01 | |||||
| align=left rowspan=5 | 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 | |||||
| align=left rowspan=4 | Kosrae | align=left rowspan=2 | At-Large | Yosiwo George | 1,824 | 50.14 | Elected |
| Aren Palik | 1,814 | 49.86 | |||||
| align=left rowspan=2 | Election District | Paliknoa Welly | 2,130 | 58.82 | Re-elected | ||
| Johnson Asher | 1,491 | 41.18 | |||||
| align=left rowspan=10 | Pohnpei | align=left rowspan=2 | At-Large | David Panuelo | 6,774 | 50.22 | Re-elected |
| Peter M. Christian | 6,714 | 49.78 | |||||
| align=left rowspan=2 | Election District 1 | Ferny Perman | 2,397 | 52.88 | Re-elected | ||
| Merlynn Abello-Alfonso | 2,136 | 47.12 | |||||
| align=left rowspan=4 | 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 | |||||
| align=left rowspan=2 | Election District 3 | Esmond Moses | 2,543 | 68.77 | Re-elected | ||
| Marstella Jack | 1,155 | 31.23 | |||||
| align=left rowspan=3 | Yap | At-Large | Joseph Urusemal | 2,371 | 100 | Re-elected unopposed | |
| align=left rowspan=2 | Election District | Isaac Figir | 2,225 | 90.12 | Re-elected | ||
| Fidelik Thiyer-Fanoway | 244 | 9.88 | |||||
| align=left colspan=6 | Source: PIO |
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 | |||
| 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 |
| align=left colspan=5 | Source: Direct Democracy | |||
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]