OPA warns of election law violations

The receipt of anonymous campaign contributions, use of contributions for personal expenses, and non-reporting of contributions received are three of the election law violations commonly committed by political candidates during elections, the Office of the Public Auditor said yesterday.

According to public auditor Michael Sablan, OPA is hoping to finalize by the end of July its audit of the financial statements of account submitted by the 2003 electoral candidates.

The audit, which covers half of the 64 financial statements filed with OPA, is the first such review to be conducted since the enactment of the CNMI Election Reform Act of 2000. It was started about two months ago upon the request of the Commonwealth Election Commission.

The election law requires each candidate to declare all contributions received, including those made before his or her candidacy was certified. It also prohibits candidates from accepting any anonymous contributions.

Sablan said that auditors working on the disclosures would be looking at cases of improper campaign contributions received, improper expenditures incurred, and misfilings of contributions.

Specifically, OPA is checking if candidates who received any anonymous campaign contribution turned over the donation to the CNMI Treasury as they were supposed to.

Further, the auditors are reviewing if any contributions were used for personal purposes such as payment of loans or bills and purchase of gifts or airline tickets, among other things.

The 32 statements being audited were selected using a random methodology that ensured a fair number of samples from each of the parties, each of the precincts, and each of the offices.

Sablan said his office might expand the audit to the remaining half of the filings, depending on the result of the present audit.

“We will leave it to the Attorney General’s Office to decide on what action to take on any violation found in the audit,” he added.

OPA has conducted numerous public information activities since the Election Reform Law took effect.

Sablan reported that eight seminars were conducted on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota during the 2001 election season and 10 seminars in 2003.

OPA is planning to conduct at least six seminars this year. The first seminar will be held on Thursday, 6pm to 9pm, in the Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe. Seminars are also scheduled to be conducted on Rota and Tinian on June 27 and 29, respectively.