Previous Story
Ada-Hocog gets further two-week reprieve
|
Posted on Sep 07 2005
Covenant Party candidate Rose Nelly T. Ada-Hocog got another two-week reprieve, as the Superior Court approved an extension to a court order preventing the Commonwealth Election Commission from conducting a lottery of Precinct 1 candidates for the House of Representatives.
The temporary restraining order, which was originally set to expire on Aug. 31, will remain in effect until Sept. 15, 2005. A hearing on Ada-Hocog’s motion for preliminary injunction was also scheduled for Sept. 8.
Presiding Judge Robert Naraja issued the order at the request of assistant attorney general Arin Greenwood and attorney Matthew T. Gregory, who represent the election commission and Ada-Hocog respectively.
Both parties filed the stipulation last week, in view of a pending Senate bill that seeks to amend the election law to remove restrictions on House candidates that are not imposed on senatorial or mayoral candidates.
Introduced by Senate majority leader Paul Manglona, S.B. 14-96 seeks to remove the provision of Public Law 12-18 requiring a candidate for a House seat to be “a registered voter 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.”
The bill also proposes to shorten the residency requirement for House candidates from five years to three years.
The election commission refused to certify the nomination of Ada-Hocog based on her failure to meet the two-year voter registration requirement allegedly provided by election law.
Ada-Hocog then sued CEC to stop a lottery that would determine the position of Precinct 1 candidates on the Nov. 5, 2005 election ballot. She also asked the court to provide its interpretation of eligibility requirements for House candidates, particularly the provision concerning registration as a voter.
If enacted, the bill would render the litigation moot.
