Chuuk election still locked in court

Chuukese voters cast their ballots on March 4, 2025. Screengrab

By Alex J. Rhowuniong

It has been more than three weeks and Chuuk has yet to finalize the official results of the recent election, which was riddled with voter fraud that required court intervention.

While the election results are still locked in litigation, vote results—misrepresented as “official”—have been circulating on social media, confusing Chuukese voters living abroad.

John Patis, who was in charge of the absentee election held at the Guam complex sports center, said the results are still mired in legal issues.

“It's too complicated to predict the outcome, but only the ‘true court’ will give the true winners,” said Johnson Elimo, former Chuuk governor.

One of the issues involved two members of the Chuuk State Election Commission, who have not been confirmed by the FSM Senate, yet exercised "illegally" the duties and responsibilities of the office.

Photo courtesy of Richard Clark/LinkedIn

Circulating on Facebook is “an official memo” declaring the incumbent governor, Alexander R. Narruhn and Mekioshy William as alleged winners with 13,241 votes, and their opponents, Mark Mailo and Joe Enlet, with 12,584 votes.

The memo was written on the Chuuk State Election Office stationery, with the certification stamps of the president of the senate and the signatures of the board members.

But many are confused and suspicious, asking why there is already an official result when the case is still pending in court.

One Facebook user, Tirow Fenuu, asked in Chuukese: “Is it true that these are the official results of our election or are these wrong?"

Isaosi Uruo, of Agana Heights, wrote in Chuukese: “We won't know for sure because most of the spots people are vying for tend to make them devious with ‘crooked-mouth.’ They are not being truthful.”

Other circulating results showed Narruhn having a total of 13,083 votes, and Mailo, 12,639. 

Herb Paul, a resident of Hawaii, described the recent voting exercise as “the most unethical election ever in terms of the way it's been conducted and commissioned.”

 “There has been evidence of unconstitutional interference and misconduct in this election. It was witnessed by the poll workers and the poll watchers at tally sites,” Paul writes.

He challenged the newly elected senators and representatives to resolve the “unchanging habits and misuse of authority that we've seen for decades in every Chuuk election.”

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