Poker initiative fails

Due to lack of valid signatures, the Attorney General’s Office refused yesterday to certify a local popular initiative petition to regulate the poker industry.

Attorney General Pamela Brown said the AGO could not certify the Saipan Chamber of Commerce’s petition because it did not have the 2,031 valid signatures needed to represent 20 percent of Saipan’s 10,154 registered voters, as required by election law.

The Chamber submitted the initiative petition on July 7, 2005, along with signature entries of 2,106 individuals. However, the AGO found that the petition had at most 1,889 valid signatures only.

Brown also noted that, although the Chamber filed the petition in a timely manner—120 days before the next election—the filing was not done early enough to provide the business organization another chance to collect more signatures and resubmit the petition for the 2005 election.

“Unfortunately, this means that the petition cannot be included on the ballot in the next election as a popular initiative,” said Brown.

However, the Chamber remains firm in its resolve to continue pushing the changes sought by the initiative, which, Chamber president Alex Sablan noted, has public support.

“We attempted to obtain many more signatures than the 2,200-plus we obtained but we just did not have sufficient time. We were pleased that we collected as many signatures as we did in just six days of trying; unfortunately, our numbers did not hold up for varying reasons,” said Sablan.

He added that the Chamber would resubmit a similar petition next year “if and when a Constitutional Convention is called for by the voters in the Nov. 5, 2005 election.”

“If the voters elect to have a CONCON a special election will be held and we hope we can place this initiative on the ballot with sufficient signatures,” he said.

He also expressed hope that the 14th Legislature would pass Rep. Clyde Norita’s House Bill 14-267, which was the basis and is a more comprehensive version of the Chamber’s initiative.

Initiative provisions

The “Third Senatorial District Initiative Petition for Local Law on Poker and Pachinko Machines of 2005” seeks to prohibit poker establishments from residential villages and limit them to only within Garapan, on Middle Road north to Hotel Nikko Saipan, and on Beach Road south to Pacific Islands Club up to Agingan Lane.

The measure would also ban poker establishments within 250 feet of any public or private school, Northern Marianas College, day care center, early childhood center, or church. It would not allow poker rooms near commercial laundry shops, grocery stores, and pawn shops.

Furthermore, the initiative would address the “aesthetic nuisance” caused by poker establishments by limiting signage to 2 feet tall, 4 feet wide, and 8 inches deep.

It would require signages to read “Game Room,” rather than “Poker Room,” and have fluorescent lighting, be backlit, fixed, and attached to the front of the game room facility. Illuminated neon or flashing signage would also be banned.

AGO review

In a July 18, 2005 letter, Brown told Sablan that 16 of the 2,106 entries on the Chamber’s petition were not counted because they did not include a signature.

When the Commonwealth Election Commission checked the first 1,435 entries on the petition, the agency found that there were 200 individuals who signed the petition even though they were not registered to vote.

“Because too many signatures were struck at this point, the remaining 655 entries were not checked to determine if the individuals who signed the petition were registered to vote,” Brown said.

She also informed Sablan that the AGO did not check to determine if the same individuals signed more than once or if the signatures submitted match the voting registration signatures on any of the petitions.

“We planned to perform these checks, as we have in years past, but did not because we have already…determined that your petition does not have a sufficient number of signatures for certification,” Brown said.

The Chamber may appeal the AGO’s final decision to the NMI Superior Court within 30 days.