Big 76.52% voter turnout

Oscar M. Babauta and Mike Evangelista

This year’s general elections had a 76.52% voter turnout, which is a big turnout compared to previous elections in the CNMI.

“It was a big turnout. I really thought that on the third day of early voting would die out but it didn’t. It never died out,” according to Commonwealth Election Commission executive director Kayla S. Igitol on Friday.

Igitol said people were really excited to come out and exercise their right to vote.

Out of 19,275 registered voters, 6,326 voted on election day, 1,531 opted for absentee voting, and 6,893 took advantage of early voting, for a total of 14,750 voters.

In the November 2020 general elections, voter turnout was at 72.05%, while in the 2018 elections it was at 77.4%, and in 2014 was at 76.7%.

Meanwhile, former House of the Representatives speaker Oscar Babauta and lawyer Michael Evangelista expressed the concern of the unified independent team before the CEC board during the special board meeting at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe Friday afternoon.

At the start of the meeting, Babauta, who chairs the executive committee of Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios and his running mate, Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang, of the unified independent team, asked the board to address their concerns that of their supporters.

Babauta said this is the first time in the history of the Commonwealth where a non-binding political party, an independent team, will go into a contested runoff election.

He said they have to find an amicable solution in allowing the independent team to provide for poll workers similar to the other party.

Babauta, in an interview, said he and Evangelista came to seek guidance and present their case to the Election Commission. He said their main agenda is to protect the integrity of the electoral process and be allowed to submit names from their side to be part of the election process in each polling places—poll workers, poll supervisors, and observers.

“Our mission here is to seek the indulgence of the commission to be allowed because nothing in the law will prevent the election commission from just allowing us; it’s a matter of just a board decision,” he said.

Evangelista told the board that right now there is no actual prohibition against allowing an independent group but non-recognized party to have poll workers.

“But a lot can be drawn also from the regulation where it allows to have poll observers that can be viewed in parallel to poll workers because the current regulation allows poll workers for unrecognized party or candidates. It’s very clear in the regulation. That is allowed,” Evangelista said.

CEC board chair Jesus I. Sablan said they will look into the concerns.