Poll commission clarifies regs for House bets

The Commonwealth Election Commission has clarified eligibility requirements for candidates for the House of Representatives, saying that a candidate must not only be a registered voter, but also be registered to vote in the election district he plans to represent.

CEC chairman Miguel M. Sablan made the declaratory ruling at the request of Raymond Palacios, who wants to run for House of Representatives in election district 2.

According to Sablan, the Election Commission would have to refuse Palacios’ candidacy for representative if he submitted a petition package to be a candidate in the Nov. 5 general election because he was ineligible.

Palacios did not meet the law’s requirement that he be registered to vote in election district 2 for two years before the date of election.

Although he claimed to have lived in Chalan Kanoa and/or Susupe since 2000, Palacios only registered to vote in election district 2 on May 11, 2005.

Pursuant to 1 CMC §6303, “a candidate for the House of Representatives shall…be a registered voters and a resident of the election precinct where he or she is a candidate for at least two years immediately preceding the date of election.”

On July 15, 2005, Sablan issued the declaratory ruling to clarify whether the statute requires that a candidate for the House be a registered voter in the election precinct where he or she is running for office at least two years before the date of election.

“This statute is vague on its face,” said Sablan. “It is, therefore, the province of the Commission to determine the statute’s meaning.”

In a recent voting, the election commissioners agreed that the law “means two distinct and separate requirements: a candidate must be both registered to vote and registered to vote in the election district where he or she is a candidate for at least two years immediately preceding the date of election.”

Hence, the application of the law means that Palacios was ineligible to run for the House of Representatives in the coming election.

“The Commission must therefore refuse to certify your candidacy fore the House of Representatives in election district 2 should you submit a petition package to be a candidate in the Nov. 5, 2005 general election,” said Sablan.