2026 Vaimauga 3 by-election
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A by-election to the Legislative Assembly of Samoa will be held in the Vaimauga 3 constituency on 1 May 2026.[1] The by-election was triggered after the incumbent representative, Taioaliʻiseu Fiti Aimaʻasu, resigned from parliament to join the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST), after leaving the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP). Members of parliament in Samoa are required to vacate their seats if they change their affiliations during a parliamentary term, but are eligible to contest the subsequent by-election.
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1 May 2026
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Background
During the 2025 snap election, Taioaliʻiseu Fiti Aimaʻasu, the HRPP candidate, won the constituency, defeating three other contestants, including the incumbent representative, Finance Minister Lautimuia Uelese Vaʻai of the Samoa Uniting Party (SUP).[2] Vaʻai, who won the seat during a 2023 by-election, placed second,[3] losing to Aimaʻasu by a margin of 126 votes.[2] The FAST party secured a majority of seats at the election and went on to form a government, with Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt as prime minister.[4]
In March 2026, following consultations with his family and some constituents, Aimaʻasu left the HRPP to join FAST. He subsequently resigned from parliament[5] to comply with the Electoral Act, which mandates that a representative vacate their seat if they change their party affiliation during a parliamentary session, triggering a by-election. These individuals are required to contest a by-election to regain their seats in the Legislative Assembly.[6]
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.[7] 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.[8]
Universal Suffrage took effect in 1991, permitting all Samoan citizens aged 21 and over the right to vote.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11]
Candidates
Four candidates contested the by-election. The HRPP nominated Tuʻumaʻaliʻi Fomaʻi Sapolu, while Aimaʻasu ran as a FAST contestant. The other two contenders ran as independents, including the previous representative, former Finance Minister Vaʻai, and Puaʻalatamai Filemoni Filemoni.[12]
Conduct
Electoral Commissioner Toleafoa Tuiafelolo Stanley announced the election date in early April, shortly after the speaker of the Legislative Assembly issued the writ. The nomination period for contestants to register their candidacies occurred on 10 April. Contestants had until 16 April to withdraw from the by-election if they intended to do so. Pre-polling is scheduled to take place on 29 April, while the return of the election writ is expected for 4 May.[1]