General elections were held in

Palau Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands ...

on 3 November 2020 to elect a

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

and the

National Congress National Congress is a term used in the names of various political parties and legislatures. Political parties *Ethiopia: Oromo National Congress, original name of the Oromo People's Congress *Guyana: People's National Congress Reform *India: **In ...

Electoral system

The President of Palau is elected using the

two-round system The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...

. The 13 members of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

are elected from a single nationwide constituency by

block voting Block or bloc voting refers to a class of electoral systems where multiple candidates are elected simultaneously. They do not guarantee minority representation and allow a group of voters (a voting bloc) to ensure that only their preferred candi ...

, with each voter having 13 votes to cast. The 16 members of the House of Delegates are elected in single-member constituencies based on the

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

using

first-past-the-post voting First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...

Results

President

The primary round was held on 22 September 2020 with four candidates. The incumbent president,

Thomas Remengesau Jr. Thomas Esang "Tommy" Remengesau Jr. (born 28 February 1956) is a Palauan politician. He served as the Palauan president between 2001-2009 and 2013-2021. He served as a Senator in the Palau National Congress between his two administrations. In ...

, was ineligible to stand again having reached his term limit. Former presidential candidate (and brother-in-law of the incumbent) Surangel Whipps Jr. took first place in the primary, while

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

Raynold Oilouch Raynold B. Oilouch (born 1965 or 1966) is a Palauan politician. He has served as the Vice President of Palau from 19 January 2017 to 21 January 2021, and again since 16 January 2025. Oilouch was elected vice president in the 2016 elections. He ...

placed second to qualify for the second round of the presidential election. Following the second round on 3 November, Oilouch conceded defeat to Whipps on 5 November after all the votes from Palau had been counted, giving Whipps a 1,202 vote lead with around 2,000 absentee votes still to be counted. The Palau Election Commission officially certified the final results on 17 November.

Vice president

Senate

House of Delegates

References

{{Palauan elections

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 ...

Election and referendum articles with incomplete results Elections in Palau Non-partisan elections

Presidential elections in Palau