Saipan Independent Rep. Tina Sablan, a senatorial candidate, said Independent candidates were not even invited when the commission drew the numbers for the candidates that will be placed on the ballot.
“The new regulations and 2009 ballot design appear to be in violation of the spirit and intent of existing CNMI law,” said Sablan in a letter to Election Commission Executive Director Robert Guerrero.
“The outcome of these new regulations and the recent drawing of numbers by the political parties is that the ballot design approved by the CEC will display only the Covenant and Republican candidates for all offices in two columns [one for each party] on the top side of the ballot sheet. The back side of the ballot will display the Independent and Democratic candidates,” she added.
In a separate communication, Independent House of Representatives candidate Victoria T. Guerrero said she joins the other Independent candidates in opposing the commission’s new policy.
She cited Public Law 15-7 and the Commonwealth Administrative Procedure Act as the legal basis for correcting the ballot’s format.
This law mandates that the commission follow the ballot design used in the 2005 general elections “because it promotes less confusion and results in greater percentage of valid votes.”
