General elections were held in
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
in June and July 1917.
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Electoral system
Changes were made to the constitution on 20 July 1916, increasing the number of nominated members in the Legislative Council from 10 to 12; eleven were civil servants and the other had to be a British subject not holding public office.[1917 Legislative Council Election]
Fiji Elections Archive The number of elected Europeans remained at seven and the number of appointed Fijians at two. The Governor served as President of the Council.[
The Europeans were elected from six constituencies; Eastern, Northern, Southern, Suva, Vanua Levu & Taveuni and Western. Voting was restricted to men aged 21 or over who had been born to European parents (or a European father and was able to read, speak and write English) who were British subjects and had been continuously resident in Fiji for 12 months, either owning at least £20 of freehold or leasehold property or having an annual income of at least £120, and were not on the public payroll.][
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Results
Appointed members
The nominated members were appointed on 3 August.[
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Aftermath
The results of the Vanua Levu and Taveuni seat were later annulled by the Supreme Court. As a result, a by-election was held in November 1917 which Joseph MacKay
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
was again elected,[''Fiji Royal Gazette 1920'', p57] receiving 84 votes to the 50 of J. Harper received 50 votes and three for James McConnell.[1917 Fiji Legislative Council elections]
Fiji Elections However, MacKay died on 6 December.[ John Francis Dyer was subsequently elected in the constituency in another by-election in 1919.][''Fiji Blue Book for the Year 1919'', p89]
References
{{Fijian elections
1917 elections in Oceania
1917 in Fiji
1917
Events
Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix.
January
* January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...
1917 elections in the British Empire