11-1 gets people’s nod

NMI voters on Saturday cast their approval on a controversial proposal seeking to limit to the indigenous people the right to vote on land matters, but a leading oppositor to the legislative initiative said she’s weighing the option of bringing the battle to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Unofficial results provided by the Board of Elections showed that 5,903 voters, or 54.77 percent of the total votes cast, said “yes” to Legislative Initiative 11-1, and its author, Senate Vice President Thomas P. Villagomez, described it as a victory for the NMI descent.

“It’s an issue which have to be decided by the indigenous people. And the people have spoken,” Villagomez said in an interview.

Aside from electing candidates for political and nonpolitical positions, voters were asked whether they would approve a constitutional amendment through LI 11-1 to Sec. 5, Art. 18 of the CNMI Constitution to provide that only persons of Northern Marianas descent can vote on charter changes involving issues on land alienation.

Businesswoman Marian Aldan-Pierce, who led the “No” campaign, attributed the people’s approval of the measure to lack of public education, but said she was not giving up.

“The legislators failed miserably to educate the public. People do not know the ramification of this initiative,” Aldan-Pierce said in phone interview. “It’s a dark, dark day.”

According to Aldan-Pierce, the voters could not be faulted because they were not informed of the true merits of the legislative initiative, which she said only encourages discrimination and family quarrels.

“We are not just going to sit back and play dead. The battle has only just begun,” Aldan-Pierce declared.

The key oppositor to the initiative said she will be looking into the possibility of elevating the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court, similar to the step taken by white rancher Harold Rice, who has challenged a state law giving Hawaiians special voting privilege.

In 1996, Rice, who was born and raised on that island, filed a suit against the state after he was denied a ballot to vote in the Office of Hawaiian Affairs because he is Caucasian. He contends this violated his 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Hawaiian state laws provide that only residents who were descendants of islanders prior to 1778, when British Capt. James Cook made the first Western contact, can vote in OHA elections.

Villagomez said he’s unfazed by plans to bring the matter to the high court. “I expected that. That’s one of the reasons why I started early rather than wait for year 2011,” he said.