[4] The referendum was open to Tokelauans aged 18 or older, with 789 people eligible to vote.

[7] Tokelau's leaders believe that concerns among Tokelauan expatriates were a factor in the failure of the 2006 referendum, even though they were not eligible to vote, and assured them that they would not lose their rights to return to Tokelau if the 2007 referendum had passed.

[6] The schedule was:[1][2] Had the proposal succeeded, a date would have been set, most likely in mid-2008, for the "day of self government".

[6] However, the proposal failed again by an even smaller margin – 16 more "yes" votes would have been needed to approve it.

[9] It is possible that the issue will be voted on again in the future;[4] the leader of the largest group of overseas Tokelauans (the Tokelauan community in the Hutt Valley in New Zealand) Henry Joseph called for another vote within two years, with the required approval being changed to a simple majority.