Felipe Q. Atalig, Saipan Municipal Council member, said he will ask the Legislature to pass a bill banning mock elections during an election season.
Atalig accuses the organization that conducted the mock poll of “favoritism.”
The Coalition for Recognition, Equality and Advancement of American Ethnic Minorities announced that John Oliver Gonzales garnered the most votes in their mock election on Saturday which drew the participation of 352 registered voters.
Gregorio C. Sablan placed second; Pete A. Tenorio, third; and Juan T. Lizama, fourth.
The rest of the five other candidates, which include Atalig, shared only 12 percent of the votes cast.
“I want to know the specifics or the criteria they used in determining that results,” Atalig said.
CREAM will invite the top four candidates to its forum, but Atalig claimed that this will “create animosity and conflict” between CREAM and the communities on island.
According to CREAM spokesman Emi Pamintuan, the mock election was conducted “to determine who among the candidates will be officially endorsed by our group.”
He said they held a clean and free election last Saturday.
Atalig said the group is not entirely representing the people of the CNMI, but he wants CREAM to also invite him to the group’s forum.
“I believe that this opportunity should equally be given to all of us because we are living in a democratic society,” he told Variety.
He added, “Anybody, any group can conduct a mock election if a certain candidate is willing to sponsor it just to project his winnability.”
He did not elaborate, but said that the mock election should not be conducted by an ethnic minority group and should be held “island-wide.”
According to Atalig, if lawmakers fail to “stop or regulate mock elections,” it will only “lead to the opening of the door to Pandora corruption.”
He said he can conduct his own mock election and garner a “positive” result for his candidacy.
Atalig also noted that online surveys are “not professional and accurate.”
In the Variety online poll, which carries a disclaimer stating that it is not a scientific poll, Atalig is last among the nine candidates.
