In praise of the election commission
COUNTING the votes cast in a democratic election should be quick and easy especially in this high-tech world — but not really, as the recent experience of “the world’s oldest democracy,” the U.S., shows. (From the BBC, Nov. 10, 2022: “Days after US voters cast their ballots, the final results of the 2022 mid-terms remain unclear — with officials across the country warning that the outcome may still not be known for weeks.” A Washington Post headline on the same day stated, “Why it may take weeks to get election results….”)
In the tiny CNMI, which has some 19,000 voters only, the tabulation of the Nov. 8 Election Day ballots was delayed by about nine hours — not by days or weeks; nine hours. And yet for some folks, the delay was an outrage if not an indication of electoral mischief. Not surprisingly, the complainers included those who didn’t like some of the election results.
But as in the past elections, the counting of the ballots was held in the full glare of poll watchers, the Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the Public Auditor and the media. As for the delay, it was caused by the processing of absentee and mismarked ballots which were carefully reviewed by the Commonwealth Election Commission under the guidance of the AG’s office and OPA to ensure that the results were accurate. The election officials performed their job the way it should be done.
Regarding the “missing” key to a ballot box, it turned out that OPA was “in possession of the seals, locks, and keys to the ballot boxes for all the precincts during the entire election period, beginning with early voting for the Northern Islands — which started on Sept. 23 — until election day, Nov. 8.” OPA, to its eternal credit, owned up to its mistake. And so did the election commission for the incorrect numbers that were initially posted on its website. These were the results from three senatorial districts, seven House precincts and four municipalities involving several elected positions and close to 100 candidates. And these figures had to be checked and double checked by individuals who had not slept for over 24 hours. It was unfortunate that they made a mistake, but it was corrected and, more important, it did not affect the actual results.
To quote Congressman Kilili, a former CEC executive director who knows what he’s talking about, “the Commonwealth Election Commission deserves praise for seeing it through successfully.”
Good news!(?)
ACCORDING to a lawmaker, the CNMI may have many problems, but they are solvable. They can be fixed!
Now these problems include the urgent need to find a funding source for government payroll, healthcare/medical referrals, the Settlement Fund payments, the retirees’ 25% benefit, education, scholarships, public safety, the justice system, public works, payments to government vendors, etc. etc.
So what’s the solution to these problems? How can they be “fixed”? Where are the legislative and/or policy proposals?
We’re all ears.
