New Caledonia holds first provincial elections since 2019 after delays and political tensions

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 postponed from 2024 amid political deadlock. About 192,000 registered voters are electing 76 councillors to three provincial assemblies: 40 in the South Province, 22 in the North Province, and 14 in the Loyalty Islands. Of those elected, 54 will become members of the territory's congress, the main governing institution, which will then select up to 11 members for the executive collegial government.

The elections take place against a backdrop of persistent tensions over New Caledonia's political status. The main pro-independence group rejected the so-called Bougival Accord, a proposed deal with France that would have established a Caledonian state and nationality enshrined in the French constitution but would have ended any future independence referendums. Three referendums held in 2018, 2020, and 2021 resulted in majorities supporting continued French rule, although independence supporters boycotted the last vote during the pandemic. However, the independence movement retains strong support, especially among the indigenous Kanak population.

A law passed in May added approximately 10,575 previously excluded "native-born" residents to the electoral roll, including more than 4,000 people with "customary civil status," which refers to Kanaks. This change increased the voter count ahead of Sunday's poll, after the electoral roll had been frozen under a 1998 agreement. A previous attempt to extend voting rights to thousands of non-Indigenous long-term residents triggered deadly riots in 2024, which left 14 dead and caused over €2 billion in damage. In response, France has deployed about 2,400 law enforcement officers to New Caledonia, who will remain until mid-July.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has stated that negotiations on the territory's future will resume next month, with the aim of reaching an agreement before the end of the year.