Polls opened in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia on Sunday for the archipelago’s first provincial elections since 2019, after the vote was delayed as talks stalled over its political future.
The election, originally scheduled for 2024, will determine the balance of power in New Caledonia ahead of fresh negotiations with France regarding the territory’s status, with independence remaining the central political issue.
About 192,000 voters will elect 76 councillors for three provincial assemblies — 40 in the South Province, 22 in the North Province, and 14 in the Loyalty Islands.
Fifty‑four of those elected will join the Pacific archipelago’s congress, the territory’s principal governing body and the only entity empowered to enact local legislation.
Members of congress will subsequently elect up to 11 members to the executive branch, known as the collegial government.
The elections follow the rejection of a French‑mediated agreement by the main pro‑independence coalition, which sought to establish a Caledonian state, embed a Caledonian nationality within the French constitution, and preclude future independence referendums.
Three referendums held in 2018, 2020, and 2021 produced majorities in favor of remaining part of France, although pro‑independence groups boycotted the third vote, which occurred during the Covid‑19 pandemic.
Nevertheless, the independence movement retains strong support, particularly among the indigenous Melanesian Kanak population.
A law enacted in May expanded the electoral roll by adding roughly 10,575 previously excluded “native‑born” residents, including more than 4,000 individuals with “customary civil status,” denoting Kanaks.
This change increased the number of eligible voters for Sunday’s poll, after the electoral roll had been frozen under a landmark 1998 agreement.
A prior proposal to extend voting rights to thousands of long‑term non‑Indigenous residents triggered deadly riots in 2024.
The election is being monitored closely, more than two years after the violence that left 14 people dead and inflicted over two billion euros in damage.
France has deployed approximately 2,400 law‑enforcement personnel to New Caledonia, who will remain until mid‑July.
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has pledged that negotiations on the territory’s future will resume next month, with the objective of reaching an agreement by year‑end.