Bush wins in NMI simulated election

Northern Marianas voters handed incumbent U.S. President George W. Bush a landslide victory in a mock election held Saturday, results showed yesterday.

Bush received 64 percent of the vote, ahead of Sen. John Kerry’s 34 percent. A tally of votes showed that the Republican president gained 416 votes while his Democratic opponent got 222 votes.

Independent candidate Ralph Nader got 11 votes, or 0.02 percent.

A total of 649 votes were cast in the Commonwealth on Saturday—315 on Saipan, 140 on Rota, and 194 on Tinian.

Northern Marianas college instructor Sam McPhetres, whose political science students organized the mock election, said 15 absentee ballots were received from U.S. servicemen currently training for deployment in the Middle East.

Still to be counted pending verification are two absentee ballots for Tinian residents cast on Saipan and six for Rota residents. McPhetres pointed out that although the 8 votes are not included in the total, they will not change the results of the mock election.

“The turnout was low, but we were lucky to have as many as we did considering the things going on last Saturday,” McPhetres said. Local residents were busy during the weekend in preparation for yesterday’s observance of All Souls Day.

According to the Commonwealth Election Commission, there were 11,775 registered voters in the CNMI as of Oct. 29.

McPhetres said he was pleased with the outcome of his students’ school project, which drew participation of ranking government officials such as Gov. Juan N. Babauta and Senators Luis Crisostimo and Pete Reyes, to name a few.

“The election result is consistent with surveys in the states. It is also consistent in all three islands,” McPhetres observed.

According to an Associated Press report, a Newsweek poll released on Saturday showed Bush ahead of Kerry 50-44 percent. However, another report issued yesterday indicated a very close race.

Today is election day in the United States.

The mock election was conducted in the Joeten Kiyu Public Library conference room on Oct. 30,from 8am to 7pm.

Anyone who is eligible to vote for the CNMI governor and has been registered to vote on or before Sept. 12 was allowed to participate in the mock election. Commonwealth election law requires voters to be registered at least 45 days before an election.

“Our core objective is to provide an opportunity for the people of the CNMI to voice their opinions about whom they think should be the president of the United States,” said NMC student Leslie Cabrera, who is the overall co-chair of the mock election.

McPhetres said he was proud of his students. “They did an outstanding job from the beginning,” he said. He also expressed hope that CNMI residents, whom he described as very good citizens, will be able to participate in the national elections.