Saipan granted polling box for Palau election

Palau residents living on Saipan may cast their votes for the upcoming Palau general elections on Oct. 30, according to Palau Consul Eileen Kintol.

Kintol disclosed that the election commission in Palau recently confirmed putting up a poll box on Saipan for the elections, and that members of its staff would arrive on Wednesday, Oct. 27, with the box. The group would also help in implementing the rules and regulations for all candidates’ representatives.

She said each candidate will be allowed one representative to serve as a “poll watcher” to monitor the election.

“All representatives can call us and we can set up a meeting and discuss everything that needs to be discussed before the election,” she said.

Kintol said voters may cast their votes between 7am and 9pm at the Marianas High School Building J.

“I encourage all registered voters to cast their votes,” she said during an interview yesterday. “It is very important, and also, the election commission indicated that those who do not vote would be removed from the registered voters’ list and would have to go through the process of registering again to be considered a voter.”

Kintol said the elections would also include the presidential race as well as several amendments to the Palau Constitution.

Kintol said about 600 of the 12,922 Palau voters reside on Saipan.

She said the polling box will be secured before and after all votes are cast as it will be under the custody of the police.

“They [election commission staff] will have police escorts. The box will be under the custody of the police before and after the election, so it will be safe.”

The box would then be returned to Palau, where the votes will be tallied after the general elections on Nov. 2.

Besides Saipan, Kintol said that only two other areas were granted a polling box: Guam and Honolulu.

The general elections follow the presidential primary, which featured incumbent President Tommy Remengesau and Polycorp Basilius garnering enough votes to advance.

Remengesau received 4,375 votes, while Basilius got 1,824. Fellow candidate Ben Roberto garnered 409 votes.

For more information, contact the Palau Consulate Office at 235-6804.

In related news, Kintol also disclosed that Remengesau is scheduled to arrive tomorrow to head a rally at the Carolinian Utt on Garapan.

The rally will be held from 3pm to 9pm.