General elections were held in the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , langu ...

on 14 June 2018 to elect the 24 members of the 15th Cook Islands Parliament. The nationalist,

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 ...

, led by the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Henry Puna Henry Tuakeu Puna (born 29 July 1949) is a Cook Islands politician, and the current secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum. He was Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from November 2010 to October 2020. Since 2006 he has been leader of t ...

, attempted to win a third consecutive term in government. However, the elections resulted in a hung parliament, with the opposition Democratic Party led by Tina Browne becoming the largest party, although Browne failed to win a seat, losing in Rakahanga constituency. The Democratic Party won 11 seats, the Cook Islands Party 10 seats,

One Cook Islands Movement The One Cook Islands Movement, formerly known as "Cook Islands One" is a political party in the Cook Islands. It was established in May 2014. The party was founded by former Cabinet Minister Teina Bishop after his resignation from Cabinet and ex ...

one seat, with independent candidates winning two seats. Following the election, the Cook Islands Party joined forces with the independents and One Cook Islands to retain power.

Electoral system

The Cook Islands a self-governing

island country An island country, island state or an island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. Approximately 25% of all independent countries are island countries. Island countries are historicall ...

in the

South Pacific Ocean South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

in free association with

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

. Its government uses the Westminster system, with the 24 members of the

Parliament of the Cook Islands The Parliament of the Cook Islands ( rar, Pāremeta te Kuku Airani) is the legislature of the Cook Islands. Originally established under New Zealand’s United Nations mandate it became the national legislature on independence in 1965. The Pa ...

elected from single-member constituencies by

first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

. The Parliamentary term is four years. As of 12 June 2018, there were 10,917 people enrolled to vote in the elections.

Results

Final results were published on 28 June.

By electorate

Aftermath

Although the Democratic Party won the most seats, neither leader Tina Browne nor Deputy Leader James Beer were elected to Parliament. The constitution of the Cook Islands requires the Prime Minister to be a member of parliament. On 7 July the Cook Islands party formed an alliance with independent MPs Rose Toki-Brown and Robert Tapaitau, and One Cook Islands movement's George Maggie to retain power. Toki-Brown, Tapaitau and Maggie were all appointed to Cabinet, replacing Ministers who had lost their seats. Six electoral petitions were filed, challenging the results in Rakahanga, Murienua, Pukapuka-Nassau, Avatiu-Ruatonga-Palmerston, Ngatangiia, and Mauke. However, all of these petitions were rejected, confirming the result of the election. Rakahanga MP

Toka Hagai Toka Hagai is a Cook Islands politician and former member of the Cook Islands Parliament. He is a member of the Cook Islands Party. Hagai stood unsuccessfully for Rakahanga at the 2010 Cook Islands general election. He was first elected to Par ...

resigned on 1 November 2018 after allegations of

treating :''This is an article about treating in the sense of provision of food, drink, and refreshments for a person or group of people. For treating in the context of social dating, see treating (dating).'' Treating is the act of serving food, drink, and ...

. In December 2018 the Court of Appeal ruled that Tina Browne had won the seat.

References

{{Cook Islands elections Elections in the Cook Islands

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , langu ...

2018 in the Cook Islands Election and referendum articles with incomplete results