Elections in Nauru
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Nauru elects on a national level a head of state (the president) and a legislature. Parliament has 19 members (increased from 18 for the 2013 election), elected for a three-year term in multi-seat constituencies.[1] The president is elected for a three-year term by the parliament.
However, there are frequent changes of government in Nauru which occur without an election;[citation needed] most recently, in October 2023, when David Adeang was elected as the new President of Nauru following a no-confidence vote for Russ Kun.[2]
Voting system
The 19 seat members of the Parliament of Nauru are elected through the Dowdall System, a decimalised modification of a preferential Borda count. The voter must rank all candidates in order of preference (see preferential voting). Each vote is then counted using the formula 1/n, according to ranking order. For example, a candidate ranked first receives one point, the second candidate receives half a point, the third candidate receives a third of a point, and so on. Each legal vote is aggregated in order to determine a decimal score for each candidate.[3] For example, in the June 2010 Nauruan parliamentary election the then president Marcus Stephen regained his Anetan Constituency seat after receiving 349.617 decimal votes from a total of 630 votes. [4]
Voter eligibility and election administration
The voting age in Nauru, as specified by the Article 29 of the Constitution, is 20 years old.[5] Voting is compulsory for citizens of Nauru. Early voting is held for the week before elections, for Nauruans who cannot make it to the polls on election day. A proxy can be appointed if a Nauruan citizen is out of the country on election day.[6]
Elections in Nauru are administered by the Nauru Electoral Commission.[7] Before its founding in 2016, elections were administered by the chief secretary, a political appointment by the president.[8]
Latest elections
See also
References
- ^ "Who comprises Parliament? - The Government of the Republic of Nauru". Archived from the original on 24 August 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- ^ "David Adeang elected as the new President of Nauru". RNZ. 30 October 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ "Nauru". Electionguide.org. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
- ^ "Results of the General Election held on 19th June, 2010" (PDF). naurugov.nr/parliament/index.html. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ^ "Nauru". ACE Electoral Knowledge Network. 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ "For Voters". Nauru Electoral Commission. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ "Nauru". Freedom House. 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ "Nauru elections: Commonwealth brings 'credibility in strengthening democracy'". Commonwealth of Nations. 17 February 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
