1965 Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands parliamentary election

Constitutional changes for the Trust Territory were made by an order from the US Secretary of the Interior on 28 September 1964.Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the United States Congress, Volume 111, Part 12, p16441 A bicameral Congress was established, with a 12-member House of Delegates (later renamed the Senate) with two members from each of the six districts and a 21-member General Assembly (later renamed the House of Representatives) with seats apportioned to each district based on their population – five from Truk, four from the Marshall Islands and Ponape, three from the Mariana Islands and Palau and two from Yap.[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-325281389/view?partId=nla.obj-325329121#page/n14/mode/1up Micronesia To Go To Polls] Pacific Islands Monthly, November 1964, p13 This replaced the previous Council of Micronesia, which had been based outside the Trust Territory in Guam.[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-324345111/view?partId=nla.obj-324411201#page/n144/mode/1up Meeting Will Discuss Plans for US Trust Territory] Pacific Islands Monthly, October 1962, p143

Future elections were to be held every two years in November of even-numbered years, with all members of the General Assembly and half the House of Delegates renewed at each election. In the 1965 elections, half the Delegates (one from each district) were elected for a term ending in January 1967 (following the 1966 elections) and the other half elected for a term ending in January 1969 (following the 1968 elections).

A total of 94 candidates contested the elections,Norman Meller (1969) [https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/j.ctvp2n5bt.14.pdf The Congress of Micronesia: Development of the Legislative Process in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands] University of Hawai'i Press, p273 of which 28 were running in the House of Delegates elections, with six running in both Palau and Ponape, and four in the Marshalls, Marianas, Truk and Yap.[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-325373711/view?partId=nla.obj-325392786#page/n15/mode/1up In A Nutshell] Pacific Islands Monthly, February 1965, p10 Although voting was meant to take place even where there was only one candidate, a misunderstanding led to Bethwel Henry being returned unopposed without a vote.Meller, p261

Of the 41,473 people thought to be eligible to vote, 35,506 registered to do so. Of these, 25,079 people voted.[https://books.google.com/books?id=yUMOOIdkhR8C&pg=RA4-PA18 Annual Report of the High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands to the Secretary of the Interior, Fiscal Year Ended 1965] p18

Following the elections, Tosiwo Nakayama was elected as the President of the House of Delegates.[https://gov.fm/index.php/fsm-presidents/1st-president President Tosiwo Nakayama] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210807120236/https://gov.fm/index.php/fsm-presidents/1st-president |date=2021-08-07 }} Government of Micronesia

On 15 October 1965 Dwight Heine resigned from Congress to become District Administrator of the Marshall Islands. A by-election was held in February and April 1966 which was won by Ekpap Silk.[https://books.google.com/books?id=EHX2SMi0hRQC&pg=PA198 Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands] Office of United Nations Political Affairs, pp198–199 Smart Lampson died on 13 June 1966; Naosy Pitiol was appointed to complete his term by the Acting Truk District Administrator.

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Category:1965 elections in Oceania

Category:1965 in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

Category:Elections in the Federated States of Micronesia

Category:Elections in the Marshall Islands

Category:Elections in Palau

Category:Elections in the Northern Mariana Islands

Category:January 1965 in Oceania