Official figures released after polls closed show 123,725 New Caledonians cast ballots in the first round of municipal elections on Sunday, a turnout of 56.08 per cent of the 220,624 registered voters. Authorities described the result as a modest recovery from the low participation seen at the last municipal ballot but still short of earlier levels.
The 56.08 per cent turnout is up on the 52.87 per cent recorded in the first round of the 2020 municipal elections, a vote that officials say was heavily affected by COVID-19 restrictions and Tropical Depression Gretel, which hampered travel to polling stations. However, participation remains below the 60.87 per cent turnout in the first round of 2014, underscoring that overall engagement has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Turnout varied sharply across the territory. The interior commune of Farino recorded the highest participation rate, with 571 of 696 registered voters casting ballots — an 82.04 per cent turnout. By contrast, the lowest participation was concentrated in urban Greater Nouméa, where 33,383 of 68,483 registered voters took part, a 48.75 per cent rate. Nouméa’s figure is an improvement on the city’s 42.05 per cent turnout in 2020 but is well down from the 2014 level.
Election rules mean the first round determines municipal councils where a list or candidate wins an absolute majority; where no one reaches that threshold a second round is required. Officials said a second round will be scheduled for those communes in which no candidate secured a majority, and they will announce which municipalities will proceed and the dates in due course.
The distribution of participation highlights continuing contrasts between the territory’s interior communes — where turnout tends to be higher — and the more urbanised capital region. Analysts and local officials are likely to focus on the Nouméa numbers as they assess voter engagement in the territory’s population centre.
Authorities will publish detailed constituency-by-constituency results and confirm the roster of communes heading to a second round once counts and validations are complete. The next steps will determine control of municipal councils across New Caledonia and set the stage for the run-offs where needed.
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