TWO recent events have changed how elections are conducted in the CNMI. On May 8, 2008, President George W. Bush signed into law the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008, Public Law 110-229. Section 711 of the CNRA provided for representation of the CNMI in the U.S. House of Representatives. Then, in November of last year, the voters of the CNMI passed Senate Legislative Initiative 16-11, to hold elections in the Commonwealth only in even-numbered years to coincide with the elections for the Congressional Delegate. The effect of these two events was to convert all CNMI elections to Federal elections, that is, elections in which a Federal candidate is on the ballot, and to apply Federal election law to every CNMI election from now on.
This means the Federal government now has jurisdiction to prosecute violations of Federal election law, including election fraud, patronage crimes, and campaign financing violations. Some of these violations are, and have been, prohibited by CNMI law; others may have been tolerated under local law, or may even be considered customary or acceptable local practice. CNMI voters and candidates for political office– not just those running for the Congressional Delegate seat — should inform themselves about the requirements of these laws.
This series of columns is the first step in the process. It is intended to provide CNMI voters and candidates basic information about Federal election crimes. Part One provides a summary of the Federal law on election fraud. Part Two deals with patronage crimes. And Part Three concerns prohibited political activity by public officials.
Part One: Election Fraud
Election fraud generally involves corruption of the process of registering voters, or in obtaining, marking, casting and counting the ballots. Free and fair elections are critical to the health of a democracy. Elections ensure the peaceful transition of power from one administration to the next, and assure the consent of the governed. When the election process is corrupted, democracy is in jeopardy. For that reason, the prosecution of election fraud is one of the Department of Justice’s top priorities.
As important as free and fair elections are to our democracy, the principle responsibility for overseeing elections falls to the States and Commonwealths. The Federal government’s role in elections is the criminal prosecution of those who commit election crimes. Except for ensuring equal access to voters at the polls pursuant to the Voting Rights Act, the Federal government does not monitor or oversee elections at polling places.
Federal election fraud includes:
• Paying voters to register or vote. The prohibition on “vote buying” is intentionally broad under Federal law, and includes anything of monetary value. So, for example, if a candidate or anyone acting on behalf of that candidate offered to pay $300 to a person to induce him to vote, that would be a Federal crime. Another example of a crime would be if a candidate or anyone acting on behalf of that candidate offered to pay a voter’s utility bill or a medical bill for a family member.
• Conspiring to suppress voter participation. Voter suppression schemes are designed to ensure election of a favored candidate by discouraging participation by voters who support, or who are believed to support, another candidate. Examples of voter suppression schemes include providing misleading information about polling places or hours, to trick voters into showing up at the wrong place or time. Such schemes also include distribution of mailers intended to keep prospective voters away from the polls, by making them think they might be arrested if there were questions about their eligibility to vote.
• “Ballot theft.” Impersonating another voter, altering their ballot, or otherwise causing a vote to be cast in the voter’s name without his or her consent, is at the crux of this violation. Some schemes involve the perpetrator aggressively ‘assisting’ voters but not letting them choose who to vote for, such as in nursing homes. Absentee ballots, which are marked and cast outside of polling places, have often been used in this type of fraud.
• Voter intimidation. Any kind of physical assault or threat designed to keep people from voting is obviously against the law. But the law prohibits more than just physical assaults and threats of physical harm. Threats of economic harm–such as non-renewal of an employment contract of a voter or a voter’s family member, or cancellation of valuable government leases–are also criminal acts if intended to coerce voters into supporting a favored candidate or to refrain from supporting another candidate.
• Voting more than once. In Chicago, a city famous for its past election fraud, gangster Al Capone once quipped that people should “vote early, and often.” But Federal law allows only one vote per person.
• Ballot-box stuffing. Elections officials acting under color of law may be prosecuted for tossing out valid registrations or ballots, rendering false vote counts, or otherwise preventing valid registrations or ballots from being counted.
• Fraudulent registration or voting. Federal law prohibits submitting fictitious names to election officials, or registering convicted felons, aliens, or nonresidents, with the intent of qualifying those “voters” to vote in an election.
Prosecution of election crimes can be challenging. It can take a long time for evidence of election fraud to be detected. People with direct knowledge of such crimes are often reluctant to come forward and tell what they know. In order to detect, investigate and prosecute election crimes, documentation of the registration and voting process must be retained by election officials for a sufficient period to allow credible evidence of voter fraud to surface. Federal law requires that all original documentation generated in connection with the registration and voting process be retained for at least 22 months. Any election officer who willfully fails to keep covered election records is subject to prosecution.
Anyone with information concerning possible election fraud should contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation and ask to speak with the FBI’s Election Crimes Coordinator, at 322-6934, or AUSA Jim Benedetto, the District Election Officer for the CNMI, at the United States Attorney’s Office in Saipan, at 236-2980. All calls are confidential, and any person who retaliates against a witness who has given information to Federal law enforcement authorities is subject to serious criminal penalties.
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