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Blanco’s House seat is declared vacant, Torres urged to call for special election
House Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez declared yesterday a vacancy in the House of Representatives and requested Gov. Ralph DLG Torres to call for a special election to fill the slot.
The vacancy was created with the recent passing of the late representative Ivan James Alafanso Blanco, who represented a Precinct 3 seat on Saipan. Blanco, 45, passed away last July 23 due to massive pulmonary embolism.
Villagomez noted in a letter to Torres that Blanco has not served one-half or more of his term in the 22nd House of Representatives. He cited Article 2, Section 9 of the CNMI Constitution, which provides that “A vacancy in the legislature shall be filled by special election if one-half or more of the term remains.”
“If less than one-half of the term remains, the governor shall fill the vacancy by appointing the largest number of votes and is willing to serve or, if no candidate is available, a person qualified for the office from the district represented,” the Constitution adds.
Precinct 3 is the same precinct that also had a special election in March 2019, following the death of representative Francisco Dela Cruz in January 2019. Marko Taisakan Peter of the Republican Party easily won that special election in a four-way race.
