Parliamentary elections were held in Nauru on 24 August 2019.[1] President Baron Waqa lost his seat in Boe Constituency, making him ineligible for a third term.[2] Following the elections, Lionel Aingimea was elected President, winning a parliamentary vote 12–6 against David Adeang.[3]
Electoral system
The 19 members of Parliament were elected from eight multi-member constituencies using the Dowdall system, a version of ranked voting; voters rank candidates, with the votes counted as a fraction of one divided by the ranking number (e.g. a candidate ranked second will be scored as ½); the candidates with the highest total were elected.[4]
Conduct
Speaker Cyril Buraman issued a notice in the Republic of Nauru Government Gazette on 15 July 2019 announcing the date of the general election was 24 August.[5] The 2019 general election was observed by two international organizations: the Pacific Islands Forum and the Commonwealth Secretariat.[6]
Results
Out of 7,508 registered voters, 7,167 cast a vote, resulting in a turnout of 95.46%. 7,037 votes were valid and the remaining 130 either blank or invalid.[7]
There was a recount in the Ubenide Constituency after six ballot papers were found in the Nauruan parliament chamber. The results were ultimately unchanged.[8]
Following the elections, the newly elected MPs elected the president, who was required by the constitution be a member of parliament.[9] Incumbent president Baron Waqa lost his seat in parliament, which meant he was ineligible.[10]Lionel Aingimea defeated David Adeang of Nauru First by twelve votes to six.[3]
