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18,097 registered voters in the CNMI
On Saipan, Precinct 1 still has the highest number of registered voters at 4,795
Robin Sablan
As of Wednesday, there were already 18,097 registered voters in the CNMI and the Commonwealth Election Commission will kick off tomorrow a series of voter registration drives on Saipan to increase that number for the Nov. 8 general election.
Acting CEC executive director Robin Sablan disclosed in an interview Wednesday that, as of that day, there were 14,673 registered voters on Saipan/Northern Islands, 1,785 on Rota, and 1,639 on Tinian.
On Saipan, the biggest number of voters still come from Election District/Precinct 1 with 4,795, followed by Election District/Precinct 3 with 3,806. Election District/Precinct 5 has 2,753, Election District/Precinct 4 has 1,824, and Election District/Precinct 2 has 1,495.
At the November 2020 general election, CEC reported a total of 18,519 registered voters in the CNMI.
Sablan said the series of voter registration drives, which all will be conducted from 9am to 2pm, will start tomorrow, Saturday, at the Santa Remedios Social Hall.
Sablan said the other drives will be on June 11 at the Kagman Community Center, June 18 at the Carolinian Affairs Office, June 20 at the Koblerville Youth Center, and June 25 at the San Vicente Youth Center.
He said they also held similar drives on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota from February to May 2022.
Sablan said they want to tackle the registration until Sept. 9, which is the last day for registration for this November election.
“But we want to do the registration drive for all every Saturday beginning this Saturday at the youth centers, or villages so that whoever doesn’t have car or whatever reasons, they can come and register,” Sablan said.
He said new registrants need to bring their birth certificate or passport.
“We need to have anything from a government institution a documentation to indicate their citizenship,” he said.
Sablan said for now, only the Mayor’s Office identification card, U.S. passport, birth certificate, and naturalization card indicate citizenship.
“All we’re concerned is to make sure that the person in the ID, it has to be U.S. citizen,” he said.
Sablan said previously registered voters who have failed to vote in the 2018 and 2020 general elections must re-register to be eligible to vote in the Nov. 8, 2022 general election.
For first-time voters, they are required to provide a valid U.S. passport or birth certificate.
