With some parliament races decided by fewer than five votes in 2007, the case brought by 13 voters living in the United States could overturn results if ultimately successful. But the challengers face 30 years of precedent: since Marshall Islands constitutional government began in 1979, the High Court has never found in favor of election complaints.
Chief Justice Carl Ingram on Friday set Oct. 14 for a status conference to schedule a date for a trial in the case involving Carl Alik, the government’s chief electoral officer, vs. Florence Simeon and 12 other Marshall Islanders living in the U.S. mainland.
Ingram’s order followed his rejection of a motion for summary judgment against Alik brought by the voters who are represented by Majuro attorney David Strauss.
The case is a dispute over Alik’s handling of absentee ballots.
Marshall Islands law requires absentee ballots be postmarked no later than election day and arrive within two weeks of that date to be valid.
Historically, Marshall Islands election officials allowed absentee ballots from the U.S. to be postmarked on election day even though with the international dateline, “election day” in America falls on the day after the election in the Marshall Islands.
Prior to the 2007 vote, Alik advised voters that ballots mailed from the U.S. had to be postmarked Nov. 18 or earlier to match with the Nov. 19 election date in the Marshall Islands.
At issue is whether Alik was correct to change election precedent and whether he properly informed U.S.-based voters of the new postmark deadline.
The 13 voters have claimed, for example, that the Marshall Islands government’s official web site instructed absentee voters merely to return their ballots “as soon as possible” after receipt, rather than advising of a specific deadline.
Last November, Strauss filed a motion for summary judgment.
The Attorney General’s Office, which is representing Alik in his capacity as the government’s chief electoral officer, opposed the motion earlier this year, and Ingram held hearings on March 24 and 26, July 7 and September 1.
