Parliamentary elections were held in the

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (; abbreviated FSM) is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosraethat are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states compri ...

on 5 March 2019, alongside a referendum on calling a Constitutional Convention. All 14 seats in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

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.

Electoral system

The 14 members of Congress were elected by two methods; ten are elected in 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 ...

for two year terms. Four were at-large Senator, with one elected from each state for a four-year term.Electoral system
IPU Following the elections, the President and Vice-President are elected by the Congress, with only the four at-large Senators allowed to be candidates. 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.

Campaign

A total of 32 candidates were originally registered to contest the elections,32 Petitions Filed for National Elections 2019
Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia although Chuuk Electoral District 1 candidate Mithasy Mark later dropped out, leaving Florencio Singkoro Harper to run unopposed.FSM Election 2019 Certified Results
Hawaii Free Press, 8 March 2019 Former President

Joseph Urusemal Joseph John "Joe" Urusemal (born March 19, 1952) is a Micronesian political figure who served as the sixth President of the Federated States of Micronesia from 2003 until 2007. Urusemal is married to former First Lady Olania Latileilam, who i ...

was the only candidate for the Senatorial seat in

Yap State Yap State, also known in the Yapese language as Nam nu Wa'ab (lit. "Island of Yap") or simply as Wa'ab, is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The other states are Kosrae State, Pohnpei State, and Chuuk State. ...

, whilst Victor Gouland ran unopposed in Electoral District 2 in

Chuuk State Chuuk State (; also known as Truk) is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The other states are Kosrae State, Pohnpei State, and Yap State. It consists of several island groups: * Namoneas * Faichuuk * Hall I ...

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. An

independence referendum An independence referendum is a type of referendum in which the residents of a territory decide whether the territory should become an independent sovereign state. An independence referendum that results in a vote for independence does not alwa ...

was scheduled to be held in

on the same day, but was postponed.

Results

Incumbent president

Peter M. Christian Peter Martin Christian (born 16 October 1947) is a Micronesian politician who served as the 8th President of the Federated States of Micronesia, from 11 May 2015 to 11 May 2019. Peter Martin Christian was among the first fourteen persons to be e ...

was not elected to Congress, making him ineligible for a second term. He lost the Pohnpei At-Large election by 59 votes.

Congress

Referendum

The referendum proposal was approved by 61% of voters overall. A majority was in favour in

Kosrae Kosrae ( ), formerly known as Kusaie or Strong's Island, is an island in the Federated States of Micronesia. The State of Kosrae is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia, and includes the main island of Kosrae and a few near ...

and

Pohnpei Pohnpei "upon (''pohn'') a stone altar (''pei'')" (formerly known as Ponape or Ascension, Proto-Chuukic-Pohnpeic: ''*Fawo ni pei)'' is an island of the Senyavin Islands which are part of the larger Caroline Islands group. It belongs to Pohnp ...

, but it was rejected in Chuuk and

Yap Yap ( yap, Waqaab) traditionally refers to an island group located in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, a part of Yap State. The name "Yap" in recent years has come to also refer to the state within the Federated States of Micr ...

. However, as an overall majority of voters approved the proposal, a Constitutional Convention was elected on 5 November 2019.

By state

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.

References

{{Micronesian elections

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and ...

2019 in the Federated States of Micronesia Election and referendum articles with incomplete results Elections in the Federated States of Micronesia March 2019 events in Oceania