November 2019 Tengatangi-Areora-Ngatiarua by-election

A by-election was held in the Cook Islands electorate of Tengatangi-Areora-Ngatiarua on 14 November 2019. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of MP Te-Hani Brown following an earlier by-election. The by-election was won by Te-Hani Brown.[1]

Background

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The March 2019 Tengatangi-Areora-Ngatiarua by-election was won by Te Hani Brown.[2] Following the by-election, Democratic party candidate Nandi Glassie filed a petition against her victory, alleging that she had effectively bribed voters by covering the charge of a private aircraft to carry voters to vote on Atiu. Brown maintained that this did not constitute an offence.[3] Brown resigned in April 2019 during the process of the petition through the courts and although Glassie was allowed to challenge the election result, this was reversed on appeal.[3][4] Brown's seat was declared vacant in September 2019, triggering the by-election.[5]

Glassie was too ill to contest the by-election,[6] and the Democratic party instead selected businesswoman June Baudinet.[7][8]

Results

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CandidatePartyVotes%
Te-Hani BrownIndependent9574.80
June BaudinetDemocratic Party3225.20
Total127100.00
Source: [9]

References

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  1. ^ "Atiu by-election win for Hon Te Hani Brown a 'huge endorsement of the Government'". Pacific Women in Politics. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  2. ^ "Te-Hani Brown hangs on to seat in Cook Islands". RNZ. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Cook Islands electoral petition decision reserved". Radio New Zealand. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  4. ^ "Re-elected Cooks MP resigns during petition process". Radio New Zealand. 5 April 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  5. ^ "DECLARATION OF VACANT SEAT IN THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COOK ISLANDS" (PDF). Government of the Cook Islands. 26 September 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  6. ^ "Veteran Cook Islands politician Glassie ill – reports". RNZ. 10 October 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  7. ^ Newport, Christina (2021). "Cook Islands". The Contemporary Pacific. 33 (1): 182–192. doi:10.1353/cp.2021.0010. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  8. ^ Rashneel Kumar (18 October 2019). "Young and old go head to head in Atiu's by-election". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  9. ^ "The Cook Islands Gazette No. 88/2019" (PDF). Parliament of the Cook Islands. 19 November 2019.