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Over 40 candidates miss OPA deadline
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Posted on Dec 27 2005
Over 40 candidates and political parties missed yesterday’s deadline for the filing of campaign finance reports, according to the Office of the Public Auditor.
As of 4:30pm Tuesday, OPA has received statements of accounts from only 63 candidates and one political party that participated in the Nov. 5, 2005 general election. It declined to divulge the names of the candidates and party that made it to the deadline.
Meanwhile, the Commonwealth Election Commission reported that over 10 candidates and parties had requested and been granted a 15-day extension, as of 3:30pm.
Those who neither filed their campaign finance reports nor obtained an extension will face a fine of $100 for each calendar day that their report is late. Any candidate who refuses to file a campaign financial report may be fined up to $50,000 or imprisoned for up to one year, or both.
OPA compliance analyst Geraldine Demapan said that most of the candidates submitted their reports on the last filing day.
CEC’s Julie Villagomez said the commission had the same experience with candidates and parties requesting extensions.
Each candidate or political party certified for the November election was required to submit a statement of account.
The Republican Party accounts for 29 candidates; the Covenant Party, 27; and the Democratic Party, 13 candidates that ran for office in the Nov. 5, 2005 election. There were also 13 independent and 23 non-partisan candidates.
For election year 2003, the Democratic Party filed a single campaign statement of account. The Republican Party filed three CSAs—one for each island. The Covenant Party filed four CSAs: one for Saipan, one for Tinian, and two for Rota.
The report must show details of any contribution worth at least $100 that a party or candidate received during the election period. Contributions include any monetary or in-kind support issued to a candidate to advance his political bid.
Election law prohibits anonymous contributions. Any candidate who receives an anonymous contribution is required to turn the contribution over to the Commonwealth Treasurer for deposit into the CNMI general fund.
