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Tokelau self-determination referendum, 2006
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The Tokelau self-determination referendum of 2006, supervised by the United Nations[1], was held from February 11 to February 15, 2006. The defeated proposal would have changed Tokelau's status from an unincorporated New Zealand territory to a self-governing state in free association with Wellington, akin to the Cook Islands and Niue.
Despite the majority 60% who voted in favour of the proposal, the referendum failed to get the two-thirds majority required for the referendum to succeed.[2]
The majority of Tokelauans reside in New Zealand, and were ineligible to vote in the referendum, in line with standard practice in United Nations mandated votes on self-determination. However concerns among this community may have influenced those who were eligible to vote, thereby contributing to the referendum's failure.[3]
The passage of the referendum would have removed Tokelau from the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, as the Cook Islands and Niue were removed from this list when they were granted self-governance in 1965 and 1974, respectively.
Outgoing Tokelau Ulu (head of government) Pio Tuia suggested in February 2006 that since the vote failed to pass by such a small margin, the issue was likely to be revisited in a few years' time.[4] In June 2006, his successor Kolouei O'Brien announced that the Fono had agreed to hold a similar referendum again in late 2007 or early 2008;[5] in the end, it was decided to hold a second referendum on self-determination in October 2007.[6]
An unintended result of the United Nations' recent efforts to promote decolonization in Tokelau has been the re-emergence of a Tokelauan claim to Swains Island, which is legally part of American Samoa, hitherto a somewhat dormant issue.
Voting schedule
Results
The proposal: "That Tokelau become a self governing state in Free Association with New Zealand on the basis of the Constitution and as in the draft Treaty notified to Tokelau".
discuss –
Summary of the 11-15 February 2006 Tokelauan self-determination referendum results
| Result |
Votes |
% |
| Agree with the proposal |
349 |
60.07 |
| Reject the proposal |
232 |
39.93 |
| Total |
581 |
100.00 |
| Invalid votes |
3 |
|
| Total votes cast (turnout: 95.0%) |
584 |
| Registered voters |
615 |
References
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