H.L.I. 16-13, which would disallow an increase in retirement benefits until all government obligations to the Retirement Fund have been fully funded, was also defeated, receiving 3,992 “yes” and 4,258 “no” votes.
H.L.I. 16-18, which would authorize the Department of Public Land to use 20 percent of its earning to pay land compensation claims, also failed to get the voters’ approval: 3,605 voted “yes,” while 4,732 voted “no.”
The only election precinct where all these proposed constitutional amendments prevailed was on Rota: 290 voted “yes” to H.L.I. 17-1 while 234 voted “no”; 295 voted “yes” to H.L.I. 16-13 while 227 voted “no”; and 292 voted in favor of H.L.I. 16-18 while 236 rejected it.
The Commonwealth Election Commission completed the tabulation of the votes on these initiatives at 12:30 midnight Thursday.
According to Commission Executive Director Robert Guerrero, they conducted public education at least a month prior to Election Day so he believed that voters had adequate information regarding these initiatives.
With the help of Northern Marianas College students, he said the commission was able to reach out to many members of the community and show them the pros and cons of each initiative.
Weeks prior to Election Day, he said they disseminated booklets that provided people information about the initiatives.
The initiatives were rejected, Guerrero said, because “many voters simply do not like the proposed amendments.”
Majority of those who voted early also rejected the three initiatives: 786 were against H.L.I. 17-1 and only 619 voted “yes”; 778 voted against H.L.I. 16-18 while 629 voted “yes”; and 729 voted “no” to H.L.I. 16-13 with 675 voting “yes.”
