# 2019 Micronesian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in the Federated States of Micronesia on 5 March 2019, alongside a referendum on calling a Constitutional Convention. All 14 seats in Congress 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 were elected in single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting for two year terms, while four were at-large Senator, with one elected from each state for a four-year term.
Following the elections, the President and Vice-President were 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, although Chuuk Electoral District 1 candidate Mithasy Mark later dropped out, leaving Florencio Singkoro Harper to run unopposed. Former President Joseph Urusemal was the only candidate for the Senatorial seat in Yap State, whilst Victor Gouland ran unopposed in Electoral District 2 in Chuuk State.

## 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 was scheduled to be held in Chuuk State on the same day, but was postponed.

## Results

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

### Congress

| State | District | Candidate | Votes | % | Notes |
| Chuuk | At-Large | Wesley Simina | 17,270 | 83.06 | Re-elected |
| Chuuk | At-Large | Erin Eram | 3,523 | 16.94 | |
| Chuuk | Election District 1 | Florencio Singkoro Harper | 2,975 | 100 | Re-elected unopposed |
| Chuuk | Election District 2 | Victor Gouland | 2,694 | 100 | Re-elected unopposed |
| Chuuk | Election District 3 | Derensio Konman | 4,616 | 67.06 | Re-elected |
| Chuuk | Election District 3 | Eflove Mailos | 2,267 | 32.94 | |
| Chuuk | Election District 4 | Tiwiter Aritos | 5,062 | 85.03 | Re-elected |
| Chuuk | Election District 4 | Manuel Rawit | 593 | 9.96 | |
| Chuuk | Election District 4 | Smith Paulus | 298 | 5.01 | |
| Chuuk | Election District 5 | Robson Urak Romolow | 1,119 | 39.55 | Re-elected |
| Chuuk | Election District 5 | Vidalino Jones Raatior | 708 | 25.03 | |
| Chuuk | Election District 5 | Zander Refilong | 463 | 16.37 | |
| Chuuk | Election District 5 | Arisao Aichem | 353 | 12.48 | |
| Chuuk | Election District 5 | Joseph Konno, Jr. | 186 | 6.57 | |
| Kosrae | At-Large | Yosiwo George | 1,824 | 50.14 | Elected |
| Kosrae | At-Large | Aren Palik | 1,814 | 49.86 | |
| Kosrae | Election District | Paliknoa Welly | 2,130 | 58.82 | Re-elected |
| Kosrae | Election District | Johnson Asher | 1,491 | 41.18 | |
| Pohnpei | At-Large | David Panuelo | 6,774 | 50.22 | Re-elected |
| Pohnpei | At-Large | Peter M. Christian | 6,714 | 49.78 | |
| Pohnpei | Election District 1 | Ferny Perman | 2,397 | 52.88 | Re-elected |
| Pohnpei | Election District 1 | Merlynn Abello-Alfonso | 2,136 | 47.12 | |
| Pohnpei | Election District 2 | Dion Neth | 2,077 | 39.90 | Re-elected |
| Pohnpei | Election District 2 | Berney Martin | 1,105 | 21.23 | |
| Pohnpei | Election District 2 | Herman Semes, Jr. | 1,020 | 19.60 | |
| Pohnpei | Election District 2 | Quincy Lawrence | 1,003 | 19.27 | |
| Pohnpei | Election District 3 | Esmond Moses | 2,543 | 68.77 | Re-elected |
| Pohnpei | Election District 3 | Marstella Jack | 1,155 | 31.23 | |
| Yap | At-Large | Joseph Urusemal | 2,371 | 100 | Re-elected unopposed |
| Yap | Election District | Isaac Figir | 2,225 | 90.12 | Re-elected |
| Yap | Election District | Fidelik Thiyer-Fanoway | 244 | 9.88 | |
| Source: PIO ||||||

### Referendum

The referendum proposal was approved by 61% of voters overall. A majority was in favour in Kosrae and Pohnpei, but it was rejected in Chuuk and Yap. However, as an overall majority of voters approved the proposal, a Constitutional Convention was elected on 5 November 2019.
| Choice | Popular vote | Popular vote | State vote |
| Choice | Votes | % | State vote |
| For | 10,033 | 60.84 | 2 |
| Against | 6,458 | 39.16 | 2 |
| Invalid/blank votes | | – | – |
| Total | 16,491 | 100 | 4 |
| Registered voters/turnout | | | – |
| Source: PIO ||||

#### By state

| State | For | For | Against | Against |
| State | Votes | % | Votes | % |
| Chuuk | 1,545 | 44.51 | 1,926 | 55.49 |
| Kosrae | 1,476 | 75.46 | 480 | 24.54 |
| Pohnpei | 5,948 | 68.07 | 2,790 | 31.93 |
| Yap | 1,064 | 45.74 | 1,262 | 54.26 |
| Source: Direct Democracy |||||

## 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.