Early general elections were held in the Cook Islands on 3 December 1974. The result was a victory for the ruling

Cook Islands Party The Cook Islands Party is a nationalist political party in the Cook Islands. It was the first political party founded in the Cook Islands, and one of the two major parties of the islands' politics since 1965. From 1999 until 2005 it sometimes ...

(CIP), which won 14 of the 22 seats in the Legislative Assembly with 64% of the vote. The Democratic Party won the remaining eight seats. CIP leader Albert Henry remained Premier.

Background

The early elections were called by Henry following a visit to New Zealand for the funeral of Prime Minister

Norman Kirk Norman Eric Kirk (6 January 1923 – 31 August 1974) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 29th prime minister of New Zealand and as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand), minister of Foreign Affairs from 1972 until h ...

, stating that he also wanted to hold a vote on self-government or integration into New Zealand. A planned referendum would have seen voters given the options of independence, self-government or integration. However, the referendum plans were later dropped.

Campaign

Henry's government refused to allow the three thousand Cook Islanders living in New Zealand to vote by post, most of whom were expected to vote for the Democratic Party. Henry also obstructed attempts to charter an Air New Zealand plane for voters to fly home.Islander examines the rule of the House of Henry
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', September 1976, p8 However, the Democratic Party was able to charter an

Air Nauru Nauru Air Corporation, trading as Nauru Airlines (formerly trading as Our Airline and Air Nauru), is the flag carrier of the Republic of Nauru. It operates scheduled international services to other Pacific islands and Australia. Its main base is ...

Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavier Boeing 707, 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter ...

to fly in some voters. Voters paid their own fares, and the flights were open to all regardless of party affiliation. The tactic was copied by the government at the next election, though with public money. Democratic Party attempts to distribute leaflets to outer islands were also stopped by Henry.

Results

By electorate

Aftermath

After the CIP lost their two-thirds majority and ability to amend the constitution, Henry threatened to take action against Democratic Party supporters working in the islands' civil service. When the newly elected Assembly convened, Marguerite Story was re-elected as

Speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

.The status quo
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', March 1975, p21

1977 Takitumu by-election

An election was held on 22 December 1977 to fill the vacancy after the death of

Tiakana Numanga Tiakana Numanga (3 August 1909 – 1977) was a Cook Islands politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly between 1965 and his death and held several ministerial portfolios, including being Deputy Premier. Biography Numanga was ...

References

{{Cook Islands elections Elections in the Cook Islands

General election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

Election and referendum articles with incomplete results