Petitioner wants acting AG recused from casino referendum review

Concerned citizen Leila Staffler is seeking acting Attorney General Gilbert Birnbrich’s recusal from reviewing, certifying, or making any decision on pending referendum petitions to reject Saipan casino laws over what she said is a conflict of interest because Birnbrich is a member of the Lottery Commission that approved a conditional grant of a casino license to one of two applicants.

Staffler is leading the referendum petitions that she said has garnered over 3,000 voters’ signatures.

The petitioners want the question on a Saipan casino be put on the ballot for voters’ ratification this November.

Press secretary Angel Demapan, when sought for comment, said the administration “does not find a conflict of interest because Mr. Birnbrich does not decide on referendum petitions.”

“The Office of the Attorney General only verifies the validity of signatures that have been affixed on the petitions,” Demapan told Saipan Tribune.

He said this review process is conducted by the Office of the Attorney General’s staff and assistant attorneys general as well.

“In the end, the findings of the OAG can easily be reviewed by any citizen who wishes to by examining the signatures in question,” Demapan added.

On July 7, Staffler submitted to OAG referendum petitions to reject the Saipan casino laws, Public Laws 18-38 and 18-43. They are still under OAG review.

Birnbrich is one of four members of the Lottery Commission that received and reviewed Saipan casino license applications and later voted “yes” to grant a conditional approval for a license to Best Sunshine International Ltd. The Lottery Commission and Best Sunshine are still negotiating a casino development agreement that will lead to a final grant of a casino license. The other applicant was Marianas Stars Entertainment Inc.

Staffler said there is clearly a conflict of interest, and Birnbrich should recuse himself from the process involving the review and certification of the casino referendum petitions.

She also handed a referendum petition to reject Public Law 18-30 or the electronic gaming law, but Birnbrich already certified that the e-gaming referendum petition does not meet the constitutionally required number of signatures and therefore should not be presented to voters in November.

Birnbrich, in a July 21 letter to the Commonwealth Election Commission stating the decision on the e-gaming referendum petition, said in the past, the Election Commission assisted with the certification process and reviewed the petitions on behalf of the attorney general.

This year, however, due to the influx of candidate petitions, the Election Commission could not provide the same level of assistance with the certification process—for example, reviewing the petitions in their entirety.

“To address this issue, the Election Commission provided the voter registration list (which includes, among other things, the name, address, precinct and date of birth for each registered voter) and agreed to compare signatures for entries that were flagged for signature checks,” Birnbrich said.

In his letter, Birnbrich said he himself reviewed the electronic gaming petition to verify whether it included the requisite number of signatures.

The petitioners led by Staffler pointed out that Birnbrich will do the same with the review of the Saipan casino petitions.