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ELECTION UPDATES: Timeline of developments
This is a timeline of developments as the Commonwealth Election Commission tallies the election results at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe, with the latest development at the upper end and the older developments below. For the latest update on the ballot count, click here: https://www.saipantribune.com/index.php/2022-general-elections/
6am, Wednesday: As of 6:10am, CEC board chair Jesus I. Sablan said they have completed the tabulation of early voting on Saipan, Tinian, Rota, and the Northern Islands.
Sablan said they will soon be printing the results, and then continue with the rest of the tabulations. He said one of the factors causing the delay is the processing of the ballots that are rejected by the tabulating machine as they have to review them, and once they try to rectify they have to transpose them to another ballots.
3:10am, Wednesday: The CEC’s legal counsel, deputy attorney general Lillian A. Tenorio, explained to Democratic Party Strategic Committee chair Daniel Quitugua that it’s a protocol to forcibly open a ballot box if they can’t open it with the key. The box contains 139 early voting votes from the Northern Islands. CEC board chair Jesus I. Sablan said the key probably malfunctioned. CEC subsequently reconciled the ballots and found no discrepancy.
2:15am, Wednesday: CEC executive director Kayla S. Igitol said they had to cut the padlock of the ballot box of the Northern Islands with a bolt cutter as they could not find the key.
12:15am, Wednesday: Rota ballots arrived at the Pedro Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe.
11:30pm: The Commonwealth Election Commission starts counting the early votes from Saipan.
9pm: Poll workers were still balancing or reconciling the ballots at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe.
8:50pm: Commonwealth Election Commission board chair Jesus I. Sablan said Tinian and Rota were doing the preliminary counting of votes.
