2010 American Samoan constitutional referendum

There were a total of 34 proposed amendments to the Constitution. At a Constitutional convention in the middle of 2010, the subject of autonomy for American Samoa was discussed, with the issue being raised by the territory's non-voting member in the United States House of Representatives, Eni Faleomavaega. Resulting from this, the proposed Constitution replaced all mentions of "Government of American Samoa" with "American Samoa Government". Additionally, a paragraph in the preamble to the Constitution was proposed to be changed to reflect that American Samoans should "have and enjoy certain rights ... including the right to local self-government". Furthermore, if the changes were accepted, any federal American law seen as being harmful to the economy of the territory or the welfare of American Samoans could be blocked by the Fono. Other proposed changes to the Constitution included expanding the American Samoa House of Representatives from 20 members (plus one non-voting member from Swains Island) to 25 (plus one), and the American Samoa Senate from 18 to 22 members. The power of the Governor of American Samoa's veto would have changed with the introduction of veto override into the Constitution, whereby a bill passed by a two-thirds majority by both houses of the American Samoa Fono within 14 months of an original veto will become law immediately. As the referendum failed, any vetoed law re-passed by the Fono still requires further approval by the Governor or the United States Secretary of the Interior. The revised draft included a proposal to effect an order of succession should the office of Governor or Lieutenant Governor of American Samoa be vacant. The new Constitution would have also provided a Samoan language curriculum in the territory's educational system, and introduced a system for post-secondary education to American Samoa. Additionally, it would have established a Public Utilities and Services Commission for the territory, and mandated the enforcement of immigration laws "in order to protect the Samoan culture, lands and way of life". ==Electoral system==

Despite there being between 30 and 40 different proposed changes to the constitution approved at the constitutional convention all changes were put to a public vote in a single-question referendum. Voters only had the choice to approve all or reject all the proposals, and could not vote on each one individually, resulting in criticism from voters. ==Campaign==

Limited public campaigning took place on the issue of rejecting the constitutional referendum. ==Results==

Voters rejected the amendments to the Constitution in all 17 electoral districts of American Samoa as well as in the absentee ballot poll. ==References==