{"id":184062,"date":"2014-11-05T19:28:31","date_gmt":"2014-11-05T09:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=184062"},"modified":"2014-11-05T19:28:31","modified_gmt":"2014-11-05T09:28:31","slug":"first-time-voters-voice-opinion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/first-time-voters-voice-opinion\/","title":{"rendered":"First-time voters voice their opinion"},"content":{"rendered":"

First-time voters flocked to polling sites yesterday on election day to cast their votes and have their voices heard.<\/p>\n

One voter aid that her first voting experience was \u201cfantastic and really fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another first-time voter said she decided to vote to make her voice heard.<\/p>\n

\"Some
Some first time voters pose for a photo at the Dandan voting site. (THOMAS MANGLONA II)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\u201cI feel like this is my voice. This is the only way people will listen to my opinion,\u201d she told Saipan Tribune after casting her ballot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 18-year-old added that she voted \u201cYes\u201d to House Legislative Initiative 18-12, which increases the Public School System\u2019s annual government appropriation by 10 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI voted for that because I am passionate about the students. I feel like this is a good cause that will really help schools and teachers. The schools really need renovations and more materials,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

One young male voter said he decided to vote yesterday to represent his age group and the youth of Saipan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI voted because I think it is important for all the young people to come out and be heard. Otherwise, we do not have a voice,\u201d he said. \u201cI came out to vote just to exercise my rights. I wanted to know the feeling and experience the democratic process.\u201d<\/p>\n

A first-time voter in Tanapag said she was excited to cast her ballot. She said her family didn\u2019t tell her who to vote for because she believes her vote is a personal choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my first time voting but I know who to vote for. The candidates that I am voting for think about the younger generation more than just the old generation. We are the future for the CNMI and the candidates I am voting for know that, that\u2019s why I am voting for them,\u201d she said. (With Jayson Camacho)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First-time voters flocked to polling sites yesterday on election day to cast their votes and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[26,67,38],"class_list":["post-184062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","tag-cnmi","tag-people","tag-saipan-tribune"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184062\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}