Polling is open in the Cook Islands where 11,000 registered voters will elect their leaders for the next four years.
Voting stations open at 9am on Wednesday morning, Cook Islands time (7am Thursday NZT) and will close at 6pm.
There are 24 constituencies, 10 on the main island of Rarotonga, and the other 14 spread across the Pa Enua, or outer islands.
Thirteen seats are needed for a majority to form a government.
A total of 63 candidates were confirmed for the 2026 general election, down from the 71 who contested the 2022 election. This year’s lineup includes 49 men and 14 women.
With independents making up 20 per cent of candidates, should no party claim the 13 seats needed for majority, the independents could hold the power over who forms government.
One seat has already been won this election, with Mangaia’s Ivirua candidate Agnes Helen Armstrong running uncontested as an independent.
There’s been a delay in the Northern Cooks, as bad weather meant electoral officers were unable to get ashore in Nassau.
Officials have announced the island’s polling will be postponed to Thursday afternoon local time.
The issues for voters
The local newspaper, Cook Islands News, ran a poll which found a majority – 50.5 percent – of respondents across the Pa Enua and Rarotonga identified the cost of living and inflation – including fuel prices, water and power bills, housing, transportation and consumer goods – as their primary concern.
Editor Rashneel Kumar told Pacific Waves last week that global conflicts, contributing to resource restraints and costs, have a flow-on effect on local customers.
“With the Middle East conflict, obviously, we have seen a impact on small island nations, and Cook Islands is not spared as well,” he said.
“We end up the supply chain, so we do absorb a lot of additional cost – and by the time the goods land here, the prices does have an impact as well as price of energy through the increase of petrol has affected the people.
“So cost of living obviously is number one issue.”
Water tariffs, seabed minerals and foreign relationships have also been heavily debated topics of interest.
*A previous version of this story incorrectly stated there were 110,000 eligible voters.
