2023 Tokelauan general election

General elections were held in Tokelau on 26 January 2023.[1]

Background

The previous elections were held in 2020.[2]

Electoral system

The General Fono consists of a Faipule (representative) and a Pulenuku (village mayor) elected in each of the three villages (Atafu, Fakaofo and Nukunonu). Each village also elects one delegate for every 100 residents.[3] In total six MPs were elected from Nukunonu, and seven each from Atafu and Fakaofo.[4] Voting uses a majoritarian system in which a candidate needs to obtain over 50% of the vote.[5] If there are multiple delegates elected in a village, majority-at-large voting is used.^[citation needed] Unlike previous elections, which saw Nukunonu use a different polling method from the other atolls, this was the first election where all three atolls used the same system.[4]

Results

Position	Atafu members	Fakaofo members	Nukunonu members
Faipule	Kelihiano Kalolo	Fofo Tuisano	Alapati Tavite
Pulenuku	Nogo Iupati	O'tinielu Tuumuli	Petelo Patelesio
Taupulega Representatives (Village elders)	Lepaio Lua	Kaio Isaako	Falaniko Aloisio
	Tiu Faō	Tuutuuvae Sefo Ateri	Salesio Lui
	Tulano Toloa	Taupati Peleni
Taulelea Representatives (Men's group)	Tepapa Tom Toma	Palelei Famatala Sili	Savelio Tumua
Fafine Representatives (Women's group)	Latu Kuresa	Malia Sugalu Puē	Lupe Josephine Lui
Source: Radio New Zealand

No elections were held for the Taupulega seats for Fakaofo as only three candidates were nominated for the three seats available.[6]

Members of the fono and ministers were sworn in on 13 March 2023.[7]

References

1. "Pacific news in brief for December 29". RNZ. 29 December 2022. Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
2. Tokelau prepares to head to the polls Archived 2022-12-18 at the Wayback Machine Radio New Zealand, 22 January 2020
3. Tokelau: Electoral system for national legislature Archived 2019-12-23 at the Wayback Machine IDEA
4. "'Every election is important': Tokelau prepares to hit the polls". RNZ. 18 January 2023. Archived from the original on 18 January 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
5. "National Elections Rules 2013". PACLII. Archived from the original on 18 January 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
6. "A first for Tokelau as all three atolls vote in same electoral process". RNZ. 26 January 2023. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
7. "Tokelau welcomes new head of government". RNZ. 13 March 2023. Archived from the original on 12 March 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2023.