This year\u2019s general election proved to be the biggest in CNMI history. <\/p>\n
Of the record-breaking 18,926 registered voters, a total of 14,649 voted, translating to a high voter turnout of 77.4 percent, according to the Commonwealth Election Commission\u2019s official tabulation of ballots. <\/p>\n
In the 2014 general election, out of 17,986 registered voters, a total of 13,798 voted\u2014a 76.7 percent turnout.<\/p>\n
CEC administrative officer Kayla Igitol said yesterday that Tuesday\u2019s election was a pretty good turnout, considering the situation everyone was facing after Super Typhoon Yutu\u2019s devastation on Saipan and Tinian.<\/p>\n
Igitol said that voter turnout on election day itself was pretty high, as well as with the early voting and absentee voting. <\/p>\n
Igitol said the tabulation of ballots was the longest because of the situation. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf we weren\u2019t in this recovery stage from [Super] Typhoon Yutu I think we would have done the tabulation faster,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Igitol said they had to wait for the Rota ballots to come in as they were not able to get a charter flight at night. \u201cThat\u2019s all due to the Yutu,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
There was also an issue with the software that was programmed for the two tabulation machines, since it could not be read on the other machine, Igitol said.<\/p>\n
She, however, stated that the machines had nothing to do with the delay in the tabulation; rather, it caused by the late arrival of Rota ballots and the long processing of absentee ballots. <\/p>\n
Igitol said she cannot answer as to why the processing of absentee ballots took that long as she was on Rota doing the preliminary count.<\/p>\n
Polls closed Tuesday at 7pm. <\/p>\n
Rota ballots arrived at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe for tabulation Wednesday at 12:05pm. <\/p>\n
On Wednesday past 6am, CEC executive director Julita A. Villagomez announced the results of tabulation from all precincts except Rota votes and absentee ballots.<\/p>\n
Villagomez completed the reading of final tally Wednesday at 6:10pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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