Elections in Nauru

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.

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    Minister: Russ Kun
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However, there are frequent changes of government in Nauru which occur without an election; most recently, in December 2007, that of President of Nauru Marcus Stephen came to office following a Parliamentary vote of no confidence which overturned the preceding Administration of Ludwig Scotty, reelected just a few weeks previously with a landslide majority.

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.[2] 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. [3]

Voter eligibility and election administration

The voting age in Nauru, as specified by the Article 29 of the Constitution, is 20 years old.[4] 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.[5]

Elections in Nauru are administered by the Nauru Electoral Commission.[6] Before its founding in 2016, elections were administered by the chief secretary, a political appointment by the president.[7]

Latest elections
Main article: 2022 Nauruan parliamentary election

See also

References
  1. "Who comprises Parliament? - The Government of the Republic of Nauru". Archived from the original on 24 August 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  2. "Nauru". Electionguide.org. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
  3. "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.
  4. "Nauru". ACE Electoral Knowledge Network. 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  5. "For Voters". Nauru Electoral Commission. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  6. "Nauru". Freedom House. 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  7. "Nauru elections: Commonwealth brings 'credibility in strengthening democracy'". Commonwealth of Nations. 17 February 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2023.


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