Rota mayoralty race heats up

Vicente Manglona Atalig, the closest rival of Mayor-elect Joseph Songao Inos in the Rota mayoralty race, has sought a court action to count the 72 unopened ballot envelopes.

Atalig filed a lawsuit against Commonwealth Election Commission and its commissioners Miguel M. Sablan, Miranda V. Manglona, Henry S. Atalig, Frances M. Sablan, Elizabeth DLG. Aldan, Melvin B. Sablan, Jose L. Itibus, and Jose P. Kiyoshi.

Atalig, who ran under the Republican Party, also named Inos as a real party in interest co-defendant. Inos, of the Covenant Party, received 11 more votes than Atalig during the Nov. 5 general election, according to the CEC tabulation.

The plaintiff, through counsel Stephen C. Woodruff, asked the Superior Court to issue an order directing that the locked box containing the 72 unopened absentee ballot envelopes be immediately delivered into the custody of the court.

Atalig moved to open the absentee ballots in question and tabulate in open court according to procedures established by the court. He said the votes for mayor of Rota contained in the absentee ballots should be added to the present tabulation.

Atalig added that the court should then declare the candidate elected for mayor of Rota.

Woodruff stated in Atalig’s complaint that plaintiff is a voter in Election District 6 (Rota) and was a candidate for mayor of Rota in the Nov. 5 general election.

Woodruff said according to the tabulation of votes conducted and certified by the CEC, his client received 11 votes fewer than those cast for Inos.

CEC certified the results of the election on Nov. 19 at 7:34 pm, according to an announcement posted on the CEC website.

Woodruff said according to the official results declared by the CEC, Inos received 511 votes, while the plaintiff received 500 votes.

The lawyer said the 72 absentee ballots received by the CEC within the statutory deadline were never opened or tabulated by the CEC on account of lack or illegibility of a postmarker.

“It is impossible to know at this time, how many of those absentee ballots pertain to Election District 6 [Rota] and, consequently, the election for mayor of Rota, because these ballots remain unsealed within the envelopes in which they were mailed,” he said.

The CEC, Woodruff asserted, committed error in summarily rejecting and excluding from tabulation these ballots—without even opening the mailing envelope and examining the voter affidavit within—solely for reason of lack of a postmark or inability to decipher the postmark.

Woodruff cited that two Rota voters—Analy June T. Mundo and Bryden Luis M. Taimanao—were denied the right to vote at the polling place on election day, on grounds they had previously requested an absentee ballot.

“This too was error by election personnel, an error compounded by the fact that another voter, similarly situated, was allowed to vote,” he noted.

Both these voters have stated that had they been allowed to vote, they would have cast their votes for plaintiff, Woodruff claimed.

The lawyer cited that based on historical absentee voting patterns and the distribution of absentee ballots Commonwealth-wide in the 2005 general election, plaintiff estimates that somewhere between 12 to 40 of the 72 uncounted absentee ballots contain votes for offices in Election District 6 (Rota).

Woodruff said the failure of the CEC to open and count the 72 absentee ballots is contrary to the statutory provisions of Commonwealth election law and the constitutional principle of “one person, one vote,” and its corollary, “count every vote.”