2017 Falkland Islands general election


The Falkland Islands general election of 2017 was held on Thursday 9 November 2017 to elect all eight members of the Legislative Assembly through universal suffrage using block voting, with each Stanley constituent having up to 5 votes and each Camp constituent having up to 3 votes. Voter turnout was 80% in Stanley and 86% in Camp.
It was the third election since the new Constitution came into force replacing the Legislative Council with the Legislative Assembly. As no political parties are active in the Falklands, all the candidates stood as Independents. Incumbent members Jan Cheek, Michael Poole, Phyllis Rendell and Mike Summers did not put their names forward for reelection. Only three members of the previous assembly won reelection, with Ian Hansen being the only incumbent member to increase his percentage of the vote.

Campaign

Under section 32 of the Constitution of the Falkland Islands, a general election did not need to take place until 19 January 2018. However, in August 2017 the Legislative Assembly announced that an early general election was being planned for 9 November 2017. The closing date for voter registration and applications for postal and proxy votes was noon FKST on 19 October 2017 and the deadline for nomination as a candidate in the election was 16:15 FKST on 20 October 2017.
As well as attending hustings, each candidate gave a fifteen-minute televised interview to former member of the Legislative Assembly, Richard Cockwell, which was broadcast on the Falkland Islands Television Service.
The election was criticised by the Governor of Argentina's Tierra del Fuego province, Rosana Bertone, who described the vote as an 'illegitimate legislative electoral act' and stated that the only 'legitimate' legislators for the islands were those elected in 2015 to the Legislature of Tierra del Fuego province, under whose jurisdiction the Falklands fall according to Argentina's sovereignty claim to the Islands.

Results

Incumbent members are in italics.

Stanley constituency

Camp constituency