Elected members of Niue’s legislative assembly are essentially voted in as independents and will then form into groups or coalitions.
Members of Parliament will then elect the Premier as the head of Niue’s government.
The main contenders for the leadership are Premier Sir Toke Talagi who is seeking a fifth term. There will be much interest in whether he will be able to retain his seat tomorrow in the General Election.
Opposition MP O’love Jacobsen is the longest-serving female MP in Niue and this will be her tenth election. She topped the polls in the last elections in 2017.
Outspoken Opposition MP Terry Coe has always been a popular candidate on the Common Roll.
Billy Talagi is another main contender; he is well respected. When the Premier Sir Toke Talagi was in Auckland due to ill health, Billy Talagi was the stand-in Premier in which the people have experienced his leadership style as Premier.
The candidates who have expressed their intention to be Premier are O’love Jacobsen, Billy Talagi , and Terry Coe.
O’love Jacobsen is the name most people are talking about with respect to the Premiership. Even some of the candidates are already talking of aligning themselves with her if they are elected.
Who takes up the Premiership role will be known a week or so after the general election.
Stanley Kalauni, Crossley Tatui, and Joan Viliamu will also be trying to retain their seats.
The 20 members of the Assembly are elected by two methods; 14 are elected from single-member constituencies and six are elected from a single nationwide constituency known as the Common Roll.
Both types of seats use first-past-the-post voting.
Eleven of the fourteen villages will be voting for both their village representative and six common roll representatives.
In the polling stations, there will be two ballot papers, one for the village seat and one for the common roll.
The Alofi South village has the most number of voters with just under 300. Alofi South also has the most number of candidates on the common roll.
The three villages of Namukulu, Vaiea, and Tuapa will be voting only for the common roll representatives because their village seats were not contested.
Registered voters can cast their votes as early as 9.00 am tomorrow Saturday, May 30th when polling stations open and will conclude at 6.00 pm.