‘Low 72.05% election turnout’
A voter casts a vote inside the polling station at Oleai Elementary School. (Ferdie De La Torre)
This year’s general election had a 72.05% voter turnout, which is low compared to previous elections in the Commonwealth.
Commonwealth Election Commission executive director Julita A. Villagomez said there were a total of 18,535 registered voters and only 3,970 voted on Election Day on Nov. 3, while 8,130 did the early voting and 1,255 were absentee voters.
CEC earlier predicted a low turnout because of the COVID-19 pandemic and midterm elections have historically had low turnouts.
Villagomez said there were nine blank ballots on election day, one blank absentee ballot, and 21 blank ballots on early voting, for a total of 31 blank ballots.
The 2018 general elections proved to be the biggest in CNMI history, with 18,926 registered voters and a total of 14,649 who voted, translating to a high voter turnout of 77.4%.
In the 2014 general election, out of 17,986 registered voters, a total of 13,798 voted—a 76.7% turnout.
