2023 Marshallese general election

2023 Marshallese general election

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All 33 seats in the Nitijeļā
First party   Party Independents Seats won 33
Speaker before election Kenneth Kedi Elected Speaker Brenson Wase

Politics of the Marshall Islands
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Executive President (list) Hilda Heine
Legislative Legislature Speaker: Brenson Wase Council of Iroij (consultative)
Judiciary Supreme Court Chief Justice: Daniel N. Cadra High Court Chief Justice: Carl Ingram
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General elections were held in the Marshall Islands on 20 November 2023, alongside a constitutional referendum.^[1][2]

Electoral system[edit]

The 33 members of the Nitijeļā are elected in 19 single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting and five multi-member constituencies of between two and five seats via plurality block voting. The President is indirectly elected by the Nitijeļā from among its members.^[3]

Results[edit]

Complete vote tabulation did not begin until 5 December, due to Marshallese law permitting postal ballots postmarked prior to the election to arrive and be counted up to 14 days after election day. On 27 November, preliminary results not including postal ballots indicated substantial turnover in the Nitijeļā with as many as one third of parliamentary seats turning over to new members, including that of speaker Kenneth Kedi.^[4]

On 12 December, the RMI Election Administration issued "final unofficial" results, beginning a 14-day period in which the results can be challenged before being declared "final official".^[5] Official results were confirmed on 27 December.^[6] Incumbent candidates were defeated in 13 of the 33 seats in the Nitijeļā, confirming the loss of speaker Kedi as well as those of Vice Speaker Peterson Jibas and government ministers John Silk and Casten Nemra. Four women were elected, the most ever.^[5]

Majuro candidate Yolanda Lodge-Ned filed a recount petition regarding her loss to Stephen Phillip. Lodge-Ned's petition was rejected by Chief Electoral Officer Ben Kiluwe, Kiluwe arguing that the 17-vote loss was a "wide margin".^[6]

Aftermath[edit]

While elections in the Marshall Islands are officially nonpartisan, most members of the Nitijeļā are part of unofficial groupings. The group supporting the government of President David Kabua suffered losses including several cabinet members, while the group supporting former President Hilda Heine increased its numbers. The new Nitijeļā convened on 2 January 2024 to elect the President, Speaker, and Vice Speaker.^[5] Brenson Wase was elected Speaker and Issac Zackhras was elected Vice Speaker.^[7]

Presidential election[edit]

Incumbent president David Kabua lost to the Opposition candidate and former President Hilda Heine by one vote. Voting took place by secret ballot.^[7]

References[edit]