September 2026 Vaimauga 3 by-election

September 2026 Vaimauga 3 by-election
18 September 2026
Incumbent MP

Vacant


A by-election to the Legislative Assembly of Samoa will be held in the Vaimauga 3 constituency on 18 September 2026. The by-election was triggered after the previous member, Lautimuia Uelese Vaʻai, was convicted of election bribery. This will be the third poll to be held in Vaimauga 3 in just over a year, following another by-election in May and the 2025 snap election.

Background

The previous by-election, held on 1 May 2026, was triggered after the incumbent representative, Taioaliʻiseu Fiti Aimaʻasu, resigned from parliament to defect from the opposition Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) to the governing Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party.[1] Members of parliament in Samoa are required to vacate their seats if they switch their party affiliations during a parliamentary term.[2] Aima‘asu had claimed the seat from Finance Minister Lautimuia Uelese Vaʻai in the August 2025 snap election.[3] Aimaʻasu lost the May by-election in a landslide to his predecessor, who ran as an independent.[1] He subsequently filed an electoral petition against Va‘ai after the by-election, accusing him of bribery, while Vaʻai submitted a counter-petition. The court found both Aimaʻasu and Vaʻai guilty on 29 July,[4] sending the constituency back to its fifth election in five years.[5]

Electoral system

Elections to all 51 of the directly elected seats in the Legislative Assembly are conducted through the first-past-the-post voting system.[6] Candidates are required to hold a matai title, be at least 21 years old, and have resided in Samoa for a minimum of three years before the nomination date. Individuals convicted of a crime in Samoa or any other country within the previous eight years, and people with a mental illness, were ineligible to stand as candidates. Civil servants were permitted to run as long as they resigned from their positions. Should civil servants fail to do so, the date of filing their candidacy is, by law, deemed to be the point when they relinquish their role.[7]

Universal Suffrage took effect in 1991, permitting all Samoan citizens aged 21 and over the right to vote.[8] Compulsory voting and mandatory voter registration were in place for the by-election. Electors who failed to vote were required to pay 100 tālā, while eligible individuals who did not register on the electoral roll before the deadline were liable to pay a 2000 tālā fine.[9] As Samoa did not employ overseas voting at the time of the by-election, electors enrolled in the Vaimauga 3 constituency were required to be present in the country to vote.[10]

Conduct

The electoral commissioner issued the election writ on 21 August, disclosing the by-election date. Candidate nominations are scheduled to take place on 28 August, while contestants have until 4 September to withdraw their candidacies if they intend to do so. Pre-polling is scheduled to occur on 16 September, two days before the by-election, and the return of the writ is expected for 21 September.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 Shalveen Chand (2 May 2026). "Lautimuia claims landslide victory in Vaimauga No.3". Samoa Observer. Archived from the original on 2 May 2026. Retrieved 2 May 2026.
  2. ↑ Matai'a Lanuola Tusani T - Ah Tong (19 July 2023). "MPs Ale, Tuu'u and Mau'u to head to by-election". Samoa Observer. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 20 February 2026.
  3. ↑ Marieta Heidi Ilalio (2 September 2025). "Taioaliiseu retains Vaimauga 3 seat". Samoa Observer. Archived from the original on 8 April 2026. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  4. ↑ Shalveen Chand (29 June 2026). "Vaimauga No.3 heads to by-election again, Lautimuia and Taioali'iseu both guilty". Samoa Observer. Archived from the original on 28 July 2026. Retrieved 9 August 2026.
  5. ↑ Sulamanaia Manaui Faulalo (5 July 2026). "Candidates undecided as Vaimauga No. 3 faces fifth by-election in five years". Samoa Observer. Archived from the original on 5 July 2026. Retrieved 22 August 2026.
  6. ↑ "Electoral System". Inter-Parliamentary Union. Archived from the original on 6 December 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
  7. ↑ Electoral Act (PDF) (Part 3). Legislative Assembly of Samoa. 2019. pp. 20–25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
  8. ↑ Haley, Nicole; Ng Shiu, Roannie; Baker, Kerryn; Zubrinich, Kerry; Carter, Salā George (August 2017). 2016 Samoa General Election (PDF) (Report). Australian National University. pp. 19, 21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
  9. ↑ "Seven Parties Registered to Contest in Samoa's General Elections". Samoa Global News. 11 June 2025. Archived from the original on 20 June 2025. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
  10. ↑ Marieta Heidi Ilalio (16 June 2025). "Ineligible to vote: Second generation overseas Samoans". Samoa Observer. Archived from the original on 18 June 2025. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
  11. ↑ Tautua Vaa (21 August 2026). "Falealili No. 1, Vaimauga No. 3 by-elections set". Samoa Observer. Archived from the original on 22 August 2026. Retrieved 22 August 2026.
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