These are the final votes to be counted in this western Pacific’s election that was held on November 21. An archaic law requires a two-week wait post-election before the postal ballots can be counted.
More than 350 of the postal ballots were rejected for missing or improperly filled out paperwork and being postmarked after the date of the election.
Before dozens of candidate poll watchers, tabulation started in the late afternoon Tuesday and was to continue overnight until all ballots are tabulated.
Domestic votes show seven of the 33 seats changing hands, but in several of these races candidates were separated by fewer than 15 votes before the count of the postal votes.
The domestic vote shows that for the first time in the history of the Marshall Islands parliament, two women will be among the 33 members.
Hilda Heine, the country’s only person to achieve a post-graduate degree, is the unofficial winner at Aur Atoll and if the results hold up through possible challenges, she will join incumbent Amenta Matthew of Utrik as the second woman in the parliament.
This year’s election has seen the largest ever number of postal ballots submitted. But many of the Marshallese living in the United States who requested absentee ballots — more than 4,200 — were unable to submit their votes on time to be counted.
Final unofficial results are expected to be announced by Thursday this week.
