AGO probes political ads

The Attorney General’s Office vowed yesterday to investigate alleged violations in political advertisements appearing in the island’s newspapers.

The Commonwealth Election Commission called for the investigation upon receiving a complaint from the Covenant Party regarding advertisements sponsored by so-called “Concerned Citizens” or “Citizens for Strong Leadership.” The advertisements bear messages against the Covenant Party.

Public Law 12-18 requires that any negative publicity against a candidate must list the name and residence of the person—or the name of the president and secretary of the organization—issuing the advertisement.

Individuals guilty of this misdemeanor may be punished by a maximum fine of $2,000 or up to 60 days in prison.

CEC executive director Gregorio Sablan asked the AGO or the Office of the Public Auditor to investigate the matter and immediately order those responsible to cease and desist from any further action.

Saipan Mayor Juan B. Tudela’s complaint regarding a “doctored” ballot was requested to be included in the investigation.

Sablan also informed local newspapers of the P.L. 12-18 requirement and the need to correct any deficiency in previous advertisements that were in violation of the law.

There are three newspapers with daily circulations in the CNMI (Saipan Tribune, Marianas Variety and Pacific Daily News), one weekly (Pacific Times), and one bi-weekly (Marianas Business Journal).

In an interview, AGO civil division chief James D. Livingstone said his office would look into the alleged violations.

“The AGO takes any allegations of election violations very seriously. Because of the upcoming elections, we obviously need to look at this sooner rather than later, as well as the other complaints we received: the Covenant Party doctoring the picture of the governor, the allegations of ‘doctored’ ballots…,” Livingstone said.

He reported that the AGO, OPA, and the Election Commission had investigated several other election violations. No charges were filed in most of those cases after involved individuals took corrective actions, he said.

As to the most recent allegations, Livingstone said: “I have not even seen these ads; neither has the [CEC] executive director. We have to look at the ads, see if it violates the statute and if it’s worth taking action.”