Prior to the elections the 25-seat General Council was replaced by a 30-seat Territorial Assembly.
The new body was elected by open list proportional representation.
[2] The elections were held under universal suffrage, with around 33,600 registered voters,[1] of which 18,964 were Kanaks and 13,406 Europeans.
[1] The campaign started on 16 September,[4] and was reported by Pacific Islands Monthly to have been "mild, with hardly an unkind word exchanged".
[1] An eight-member cabinet was elected by the Territorial Assembly in late October.