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Senate OKs bill suspending certain election laws
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Posted on Sep 01 2020
The Senate passed Friday a bill that will suspend certain CNMI election laws for the Nov. 3 general elections to mitigate the public health risks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At a session on Rota, senators unanimously passed Senate Bill 21-68, SD2 that will extend the early voting time to 21 days and add more polling places.
Introduced by Sen. Sixto K. Igisomar (R-Saipan), the bill will extend the hours of operations for early voting and election day.
Senate clerk Dolores S. Bermudes transmitted the bill to House Speaker Blas Jonathan T. Attao (R-Saipan) yesterday for the House of Representatives’ action.
The legislation will also authorize the Commonwealth Election Commission to collect absentee ballots seven days before the general election. It will give the CEC flexibility to make changes to the election procedures if necessary to mitigate the public health risks due to the pandemic.
The CEC board recently approved a resolution certifying the names of 68 candidates, including two judges and one associate justice, for meeting the requirements of the law to be placed on the ballot for the Nov. 3 general elections. (Ferdie de la Torre)
