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All 8 members to the legislative assembly 5 seats needed for a majority |
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The Falkland Islands general election of 2013 was held on Thursday 7 November 2013 to elect all eight members of the Legislative Assembly (five from the Stanley constituency and three from the Camp constituency) through universal suffrage using block voting, with each Stanley constituent having up to 5 votes and each Camp constituent having up to 3 votes. A total of 1,046 ballots (4,750 votes) were cast in Stanley, representing a turn-out of 75.4%, and 242 ballots (675 votes) in Camp, representing a turn-out of 85.5%. As no political parties are active in the Falklands, all the candidates stood as Independents. The Chief Executive of the Falkland Islands, Keith Padgett, acted as returning officer. It was the second election since the new Constitution came into force replacing the Legislative Council (which had existed since 1845) with the Legislative Assembly.
For the first time, elected candidates would be paid a salary, rather than just expenses, and be expected to work full-time, giving up whatever jobs or business interests they may have previously held. This led to criticism from some Islanders that potential candidates had been put off from standing as they didn't want to give up their jobs.
All but two members of the previous Legislative Assembly won re-election (Camp MLA Sharon Halford lost her seat and Stanley MLA Dick Sawle did not stand for re-election).Michael Poole, one of the new intake, became the first member of the islands' legislature to have been born after the Falklands War and received the highest number of votes of an candidates in the history of the islands.