Previous Story
Special election for Precinct 3 on Oct. 16
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres proclaimed last Thursday a special election for Precinct 3 to fill the seat left vacant with the sudden passing of Rep. Ivan A. Blanco, who passed away on July 23, 2021. The special election shall be held on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021.
The proclamation states that Section 9 of Article II of the CNMI Constitution provides that a vacancy in the Legislature shall be filled by a special election “if one-half or more of the term remains.”
Blanco was elected to the House of Representatives of the 22nd Legislature from Precinct 3 in the 2020 general election. On Aug. 9, 2021, House Speaker Edmund Villagomez notified Torres that “[t]he untimely passing of the Honorable Ivan A. Blanco, Precinct 3 on Friday, 23 July 2021, resulted a vacancy for Election Precinct 3 of the Third Senatorial District.”
With the term remaining in Blanco’s vacated seat greater than one-half of his two-year term, it therefore must be filled by a special election.
All nomination petitions for the special election shall he filed with the Commonwealth Election Commission on or before Sept. 3, 2021, and the commission shall act on the petitions on or before Sept. 15, 2021.
The commission shall designate and publicize the polling places for the special election no later than 15 days prior to the special election; establish all other deadlines associated with the special election; and cause a copy of the proclamation to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the Commonwealth and to be posted in Precinct 3. (Saipan Tribune)
