Parliamentary Elections, 14 and 19 August 2024

Kiribati has a unicameral parliament, the House of Assembly (Maneaba ni Maungatabu), which consists of 46 members. A two-round system throughout the 26 constituencies is used as a basis to elect 44 members of parliament. The legislature is responsible for appointing three to four presidential candidates (IFES 2024b). Elections in Kiribati are administrated by the independent Electoral Commission (International IDEA n.d.a). In Kiribati, parliamentary candidates stand for election without party affiliation until after they are elected (Graham-McLay and Kageyama 2024). Voting in Kiribati is voluntary (Kiribati 1979).

The 2024 elections took place on the 14 and 19 of August 2024,  the first round electing seats by majority and the second round electing the remaining seats by plurality of votes (Kiribati 1979: Part II Art. 3(1).  

Ahead of the election, it was unclear to voters where polling stations were located and whether identification cards were needed to vote. The list of polling stations ended up being published the day before the election (CNN/AP 2024). The requirements for which type of ID would be accepted at the polling stations was unclear and many voters were concerned as the process for acquiring a National ID-card could take a long time (RNZ 2024). 

Voter turnout was 84.5 per cent in the first round, an increase from Kiribati’s previous parliamentary election in 2020 when turnout was 75.67 per cent.  Voter turnout in the second round was 57.99 per cent (International IDEA n.d.b). 

The results showed to be successful for the President who retained his seat in his home islands, and 18 members of his Tobwaan Kiribati Party re-elected to office. Despite being a record for Kiribati, only five women were elected, just one more than in the previous elections, highlighting the continued underrepresentation of women in parliament (Wiseman and Anthony 2024).

After the elections, Kiribati closed its borders to diplomatic visits until 2025. Kiribati’s Foreign Ministry Official claimed to the Associated Press that the decision was due to the processes for electing a president and for a new government to be formed are expected to take a long time. (Graham-McLay and Kageyama 2024).  Kiribati's Education Minister, Alexander Teabo, announced ahead of the 53^rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting that diplomatic visits will be welcome again once the election process is done (Lewis 2024). 

The presidential election took place on 25 October 2024 (IFES 2024c), with all three nominated candidates being from the Tobwaan Kiribati Party (RNZ 2024).