1970 Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands parliamentary election
# 1970 Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands on 3 November 1970.

## Electoral system

The bicameral Congress consisted of a 12-member Senate with two members from each of the six districts and a 21-member 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.

Elections were held every two years in November of even-numbered years, with all members of the House of Representatives and half the Senate (one member from each district) renewed at each election.

## Results

### Senate

| District | Elected Member | Notes |
| - | - | - |
| Marianas | Edward Pangelinan | |
| Marshalls | Amata Kabua | Re-elected |
| Palau | Roman Tmetuchl | Previously a Representative |
| Ponape | Ambilos Iehsi | |
| Truk | Andon Amaraich | Re-elected |
| Yap | Petrus Tun | |
| Source: TTPI |||

### House of Representatives

| District | Constituency | Elected Member | Notes |
| - | - | - | - |
| Marianas | 1st District | Felipe Atalig | |
| Marianas | 2nd District | Carlos Shoda | |
| Marianas | 3rd District | Herman Q. Guerrero | |
| Marshalls | 4th District | Charles Domnick | Re-elected |
| Marshalls | 5th District | Henry Samuel | Re-elected |
| Marshalls | 6th District | Ekpap Silk | Re-elected |
| Marshalls | 7th District | Ataji Balos | Re-elected |
| Palau | 8th District | Timothy Olkeriil | Results annulled |
| Palau | 9th District | George Ngirarsaol | Results annulled |
| Palau | 10th District | Tarkong Pedro | Results annulled |
| Ponape | 11th District | Joab Sigrah | Re-elected |
| Ponape | 12th District | Bethwel Henry | Re-elected |
| Ponape | 13th District | Heinrich Iriarte | Re-elected |
| Ponape | 14th District | Olter Paul | Re-elected |
| Truk | 15th District | Raymond Setik | Re-elected |
| Truk | 16th District | Sasauo Haruo | Re-elected |
| Truk | 17th District | Endy Dois | Re-elected |
| Truk | 18th District | Masao Nakayama | Re-elected |
| Truk | 19th District | Hans Wiliander | Re-elected |
| Yap | 20th District | John Mangefel | Re-elected |
| Yap | 21st District | John N. Rugulimar | Re-elected |
| Source: TTPI, Highlights ||||

## Aftermath

Following the elections, the Progressive Party submitted a petition to annul the election results in Palau, where the Liberal Party had won all four contested seats (Roman Tmetuchl in the Senate and George Ngirarsaol, Timothy Olkeriil and Tarkong Pedro in the House of Representatives). The Progressives claimed that non-registered people had been able to vote, and ballots had been tampered with. A Senate committee subsequently recommended that the election of Tmetuchl be annulled. However, the Senate voted to allow Tmetuchl to take his seat, although the election of the three Palau House of Representatives members was annulled.

When the newly elected Congress met, Bethwel Henry of Ponape was re-elected Speaker of the House of Representatives and Amata Kabua of the Marshall Islands was re-elected President of the Senate.

The by-election for the three House of Representatives seats in Palau was held on 30 March, with Polycarp Basilius, Olkeriil and Pedro elected.

