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‘No proposed Article 12 amendment at Nov. 6 election’
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Posted on Apr 16 2012
By Ferdie de la Torre
Reporter
Reporter
Commonwealth Election Commission executive director Robert A. Guerrero said he is not aware of any measure pertaining to amendment of Article 12 of the CNMI Constitution at the Nov. 6, 2012 election.
In a declaration filed in the U.S. District Court for the NMI on Thursday, Guerrero said as of Feb. 13, 2012, there will not be any measure related to the amendment of Article 12 or Article 18 Section 5(c) on the next regularly scheduled election.
Guerrero said there is also no evidence that in the near term there will be a special election regarding amending Article 12 or Article 18 Section 5(c).
Article 12 limits landownership in the CNMI only to those of NMI descent.
Article 18 Section 5(c) states that “in the case of a proposed amendment to Article 12, the word ‘voters’ shall be limited to eligible voters under Article 7 who are also persons of Northern Marianas descent as described in Article 12 Section 4, and the term ‘votes cast’ as used in subsection 5(b) shall mean the votes cast by such voters.”
The Office of the Attorney General submitted in court Guerrero’s declaration in connection with a motion filed in John H. Davis Jr.’s lawsuit.
Davis sued Guerrero, the Commonwealth Election Commission, CEC chair person Frances M. Sablan, and Gov. Benigno R. Fitial.
Davis, a U.S. citizen, seeks to stop CEC from denying U.S. citizens who are not of Northern Marianas descent the right to vote on any issue regarding Article 12 of the CNMI Constitution or on any other issues.
Davis, a vice principal at Marianas High School, wants the court to declare that Article 18 Section 5(c) of the CNMI Constitution violates the 14th and 15th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and is invalid, null, and void.
Last month, U.S. District Court for the NMI chief judge Ramona V. Manglona dismissed Davis’ lawsuit, but allowed him to amend the complaint. The plaintiff subsequently filed an amended complaint.
