The premier and executive council are then selected internally by the MLAs at the first special sitting of the legislature.

As of the close of nominations on September 29, 2017, three MLAs, Steve Mapsalak, Keith Peterson and Premier Peter Taptuna were the only incumbents not running again.

[5] In one district, Cambridge Bay, formal declaration of the winner was not made until November 5, with the initial results undergoing an automatic recount due to a margin of less than two per cent between the top two finishers.

Following the election, only three of the eight incumbent cabinet ministers had been reelected: three were defeated and two, including Premier Peter Taptuna, chose not to run again.

[10] The Legislative Assembly is run on a consensus government system, in which all MLAs sit as independents and are not organized into political parties.