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Defeated NI mayoral bet says Aldan not a resident
Santos questions mayor-elect Aldan’s eligibility to run
Defeated Northern Islands mayoral candidate Vicente Cruz Santos Jr. filed yesterday an election contest, alleging that mayor-elect Francisco Jerome K. Aldan is not a resident of the Northern Islands and that there were some illegal votes.
Santos is suing Aldan and the Commonwealth Election Commission in Superior Court.
Vicente Cruz Santos Jr.
Santos requested the court to declare him the elected Northern Islands mayor for garnering the largest number of legal votes.
Alternatively, Santos wants the court to issue an order setting aside the election results and ordering the election commission to hold a new mayoral election for the Northern Islands.
Santos also demanded a court judgment holding Aldan and CEC jointly liable to pay him for his fees, costs, and expenses in his election contest.
Aldan, of the NMI Republican Party, won over independent candidate Santos with a margin of 33 votes, 94-61, according to CEC’s official election results.
King stated in the complaint that CEC allowed Aldan to run as a candidate for Northern Islands mayor in the Nov. 4 election despite his being not a resident or domiciliary of the Northern Islands.
King said that only individuals registered to vote in Precinct 4D (Northern Islands) for the Nov. 4 election could vote for the Northern Islands mayor.
The lawyer also alleged that on Nov. 4, CEC allowed 40 individuals to vote who were not eligible to vote for Northern Islands mayor.
King said these individuals were not residents of the Northern Islands on Nov. 4 or ever, yet they voted for Aldan. King said without these illegal votes, Santos would have prevailed over Aldan.
Aldan is program manager for the Northern Islands Mayor’s Office. He has been serving as acting mayor because of the current mayor’s health condition.
