Voters overwhelmingly rejected the Saipan casino initiative, but Rota voters finally decided that their island is now ready for casinos.
Based on the Commonwealth on Election's unofficial partial results of Saturday's mid-term poll, majority of Saipan voters thumbed down the casino initiative as 4,721 voted “No” while only 3,492 voted “Yes.”
The “No” to casino prevailed in all Saipan districts.
But in Rota, 788 voted “Yes” for the casino initiative, while only 144 voted “No.”
The casino initiatives need two thirds of registered voters to be passed.
The unofficial results may not be affected with the absentee votes as Saipan and Rota have only 866 and 421 absentee ballots respectively.
The local Catholic Church led by Bishop Tomas A. Camacho of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa joined by many other church groups rejected the Saipan and Rota casino initiatives.
Camacho earlier said the casino gambling was “an illusion to economic prosperity” and that the proposal would only benefit only a few.
The CNMI Indigenous Entrepreneurs Inc. led by former House Speaker Pedro R. Guerrero was the one pushing for the Saipan casino initiative. Proponents touted the casino proposal as an “economic jackpot.”
The Rota Economic Development Task Force led by former Commerce Secretary Pedro Q. Dela Cruz is behind the proposed Rota Casino Act that would allow an unlimited number of casino licenses to be issued by the future gaming commission.
Since 1991, the Rota casino initiative had been placed on the ballots. Rota politicians, however, noted a growing acceptance of casinos based on the trend of votes in past elections.
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