Thank you

I would be remised if I don’t acknowledge the contribution and support of so many people and many Commonwealth government agencies that led to a successful and orderly 2005 general election.

The public education we conducted on the judicial retention questions and the decennial constitutional convention question was only possible because of the financial assistance of the Executive Offices of the Governor, the Secretary of Finance, the Commonwealth Treasurer and the Director of Procurement & Supply. They contributed to the cost of the public education program.

The order and security at all the polling places and the tabulation location was largely due to the support and leadership of Commissioner Tudela, Lt. Pete Guerrero, the officers-in-charge on Rota and Tinian and all the fine men and women in blue that kept order on election day and during the tabulation when the polls were closed. Thank you.

PSS was, as always, gracious enough to allow us to use their buses and their drivers, to transport the workers to and from the polling places.

The support and assistance of the many staff attorneys and investigators from the Attorney General’s Office provided consistency in the processing of poll voters Commonwealth-wide. Thank you.

The conduct of the general election would not have been possible without the dedication and hard work of the over 100-election workers commonwealth-wide. Thank you.

To all the government offices and public schools that gave us permission to use their facilities for polling places, thank you very much. We trust that we restored the facility back into the same manner when we found them.

The Public Auditor and his staff were independent observers at all polling places. While they were not part of the Commission’s conduct of the election, they however were there to ensure that the election that was free and fair. Thank you.

I am also grateful to my counterparts from the Guam Election Commission for coming to assist us with the tabulation of the ballots. Their help was enormous.

I am grateful to those government agencies, such as Procurement & Supply, the Mayor of Saipan, Department of Commerce on Tinian, the Rota NMC and the SAA office for allowing some of their staff to assist us with the installation and dismantling of the voting booths.

Words are insufficient to express my gratitude to the support of the Election Commissioners and to the Commission’s staffs for the dedication and hard work that began since January and leading up to the day of the election. I can only say Thank You.

To all the candidates and political parties, thank you for taking part in our democracy.

To the 12,511 poll voters, a free and fair election is only possible because of your taking the time to come to the polls to cast your votes. Thank You All for your patience while waiting in line for your turn to vote and for allowing our elderly and those with special needs to “cut” through the lines to vote first. These kind acts are truly reflective of the good nature of the Commonwealth’s citizens.

Thank you, finally, for the many kind words we have received for what many said was an orderly, calm, efficient election. I take no credit for any of these. The credit belongs to those mentioned above and to others that I may have inadvertently failed to mention.

Gregorio C. Sablan
Executive Director
Commonwealth Election Commission