Constitutional Convention elections were held in the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...

in November 1976.Marshalls Con Con Opened
''Highlights'', 15 August 1977, p5

Background

The calling of a convention was approved by a bill in the District Legislature in August 1976.Marshall Legislature Passes ConCon Bill
''Highlights'', 1 September 1977 The 48-member body was to draft a

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

in both English and Marshallese, and consisted of three Marshallese representatives in the

Congress of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands The Congress of Micronesia was a bicameral legislature in Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands from 1964 to 1979. History The Congress was established on 28 September 1964, when the US Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall issued order no. ...

(one senator and two representatives), the eight

Iroij Iroijlaplap ( Marshallese: ; feminine: Leroijlaplap, ) are the traditional paramount chiefs in the Marshall Islands. Ordinary chiefs bear the title of Iroij (feminine: Leroij); -' is a superlative suffix. Legal basis Article III of the Const ...

members of the District Legislature, the Iroijs of

Arno The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a s ...

Mejit Mejit ( Marshallese: , , or , ) is an island in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Unlike most of the other islands of the Marshall Islands, Mejit is a stony island rather than a coral a ...

and Ujelang/

Enewetak Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with it ...

, a representative from

Likiep Likiep Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of 65 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. It is approximately northwest of Wotje. Its total land area is only , but that enclo ...

and 33 elected members.

Aftermath

Following the elections, the convention was opened in

Majuro Majuro (; Marshallese: ' ) is the capital and largest city of the Marshall Islands. It is also a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean. It forms a legislative district of the Ratak (Sunrise) Chain of the Marshall Islands. The ato ...

on 8 August 1977.

Ruben Zackhras Ruben R. Zackhras (4 December 1947 – 1 January 2019) was a Marshallese politician. He was acting President of the Marshall Islands from 21 October 2009 to 26 October 2009. He previously served as Minister of Finance from 1992 to 1998. Zackhra ...

was elected president of the body. After work had finished, a ceremony was held at Uliga Protestant Church in Majuro on 4 January 1979 for the formal signing of the constitution. Zackhras then presented the constitution to District Administrator Oscar DeBrum and

Legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

Speaker

Atlan Anien Atlan Anien (January 17, 1920 – 1992) was a speaker of the Legislature of the Marshall Islands. Biography Anien began his education at the US Navy Interpreter School and subsequently went to Goshen College and then the University of Hawaii ...

. The convention was then dissolved on Marshalls Constitution Signed
''Highlights'', 15 January 1979, p3 A

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

on the draft constitution was organised for March 1979, with 64% of voters approving the document.

References

{{Marshall Islands elections Elections in the Marshall Islands 1977 elections in Oceania 1977 in the Marshall Islands