Saipan voters nix casino

Only nine votes separated the opponents and supporters of plans to legalize casinos on Saipan, with the nine-vote majority going to those who oppose the proposal.

Based on the official results of the survey conducted by the Northern Marianas College’s Current Issues class on Friday, over 800 registered voters participated in the casino referendum, with 425 voters saying “no” to the casino plans and 416 saying “yes.” These results, however, are non-binding.

Friday’s referendum yielded a very low turnout of only 7 percent, with only 841 votes cast including early voters. Based on the CEC records, Saipan has 12,527 registered voters as of Oct. 14 this year.

The survey’s organizers had hoped for at least a 60-percent voter turnout.

The results were certified by the students on Friday night, with the guidance of both the Commonwealth Election Commission and the Office of the Public Auditor.

Despite the majority win of casino opponents, Current Issues class instructor Sam McPhetres described the nine-vote difference as “a victory by a nose.”

He believes that, with the very low turnout, the referendum record is not a “good statistical sampling” that can be used to predict the “future” as it only represents a very small portion of Saipan’s registered voters.

He described the activity as a useful experience for students and voters-both for those who participated and those who opted not to join the survey.

Due to past experiences with low turnouts during regular non-personality elections, McPhetres was expecting this referendum not to be an exemption. “But I didn’t expect this to be so low.”

McPhetres personally wants to see a study done first before any casino bill is passed for Saipan.

He said the survey results will be turned over this week to Senate President Paul Manglona and Sen. Ralph Torres, who requested the conduct of the referendum.

McPhetres said that among the many factors that contributed to the unsatisfying result were the failure of both pro- and anti-casino advocates to get their supporters involved in the process; the confusion among some voters about the polling sites for the referendum; and people failing to express their opinion. According to McPhetres, it was only in 1977 when he saw a strong public opinion on casino gambling.

The class’ central committee chairperson, Czarina Jucutan, described the survey as “once-in-a lifetime experience.” Despite the disappointing turnout, she said the whole activity was successful in that they managed to adhere to the rules and regulation of the Election Commission when doing the survey.

She described the nine-vote difference as disappointing but considers it a good challenge. “It [turnout] didn’t come out that well. It’s disappointing.but it’s also a good challenge,” she said.

The class printed 8,000 ballots for the activity; only 841 were actually used.

At the Northern Marianas College polling site, a total of 220 votes were cast, with 106 saying no and 114 saying yes. These voters are from San Antonio, San Vicente, and Koblerville.

At the legislative building, 72 voters cast their votes, with 41 opposed and 31 in support. This polling place was designated for voters from Tanapag, San Roque, Capitol Hills and Northern Islands.

At the Kagman Community Center, 88 said yes to casinos while 58 said no. Only 146 voters in Kagman participated in the survey.

At the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center, 241 votes were cast, with 134 saying yes and 107 saying no.

Among early voters, 113 rejected the casino plan while 49 approved its legalization on Saipan. Early voters cast their ballots on Nov. 2 and 3.