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High turnout for Youth Congress elections
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Posted on Sep 19 2000
Legislative Bureau officials call yesterday’s polls the most successful Youth Congress elections since the youth organization’s inception three years ago, with roughly 1,200 youth voters participating in the annual activity.
Official winners will be announced today after the bureau completes the ballot count for Saipan, Rota, and Tinian, according to Youth Congress Administrative Officer Mike Evangelista.
Mr. Evangelista noted that a significant number of youth voters inserted in their ballots write-in candidates, an indication that aside from the official candidates, quite a few other youths have an interest to run for public office.
“The big turnout for write-ins tells us that the interest is there but I guess they’re just too shy to announce their candidacy. But then, their contemporaries voted for them as write-in candidates so this means they also engaged in grassroots campaigning. Maybe they just need the right push to boost their confidence,” said Mr. Evangelista.
Marianas High School was the polling site with the most recorded voters, as over 800 students took time in between class periods to vote for the candidate of their choice.
A new participant to this year’s Youth Congress is Calvary Christian Academy joining 11 other CNMI schools.
In mid-October, 22 youth senators will be installed for a year-long term under the 3rd CNMI Youth Congress.
Meanwhile, the Legislative Bureau and incumbent Youth Congress senators are still pushing for the passage of a pending legislation seeking to overhaul the law that established the Youth Congress.
Mr. Evangelista expressed support to amend a Youth Congress mandate that states youth senators are allowed to hold sessions once every three months.
“We are hoping that the senators can meet once month so they can hold more legislative sessions. This would give us a momentum to build up the interest of the kids, and public education. . .to keep the Youth Congress in the limelight,” said Mr. Evangelista.
He said more regular sessions would translate to more actions on the part of the youth leaders.
“This way, they will be more responsive to current issues,” he said.
