‘Missing’ ballot box key is OPA’s fault

Reporter

From left, Commonwealth Election Commission member Christopher Jonathan Manglona, Chair Jesus I. Sablan, Executive Director Kayla S. Igitol, and member Jesus S. Cepeda verify the 139 ballots in the Northern Islands early voting ballot box on election night, Nov. 8, 2022.

THE Office of the Public Auditor on Friday said the failure to unlock the Northern Islands early voting ballot box on election night was not a result of a malfunction.

In a letter to Commonwealth Election Commission Chair Jesus I. Sablan, temporary Public Auditor Dora I. Deleon Guerrero said after an extensive review of its records, OPA determined that the wrong set of keys for the ballot box was provided to OPA legal counsel Ashley Kost on election night.

The correct key remained in the possession of an OPA employee.

"There is no excuse for this unfortunate situation, and I take full responsibility for the concern it caused the community and the adverse impact on the Commonwealth Election Commission.... The lock and seal attached to the [Northern Islands] early voting ballot box up to the time of the tabulation was intact and showed no signs of tampering, confirming that the integrity of the ballots was at no time compromised," said Deleon Guerrero.

"Maintaining the integrity of the ballots and assisting CEC during the free election process was our priority. I believe my team did a great job in following through with those priorities. However, we are also accountable for our actions and acknowledge responsibility. We have identified the cause of this unfortunate incident and have strengthened our internal control process to ensure this does not happen again. On behalf of OPA, I would like to extend our sincere apologies to CEC and the entire community."

OPA said it had possession of the seals, locks, and keys to the ballot boxes for all the precincts during the entire election period, beginning with early voting for the Northern Islands — which started on Sept. 23 — until election day, Nov. 8.

CEC Chair Sablan said in an interview that all 139 ballots in the Northern Islands early voting ballot box were accounted for and included in the final count.

He said there were those who sought to prevent them from counting the ballots, but he added that any such challenges should be made in court.

"It's just unfortunate that the key would not open the padlock. I assumed that at the time, it was a manufacturing defect, so I made sure that it was not [tampered with]," he said.

He said he asked CEC Executive Director Kayla S. Igitol to confirm that the recorded number of ballots matched the actual number of ballots in the box.

Sablan said the numbers matched, so the ballots were included in the final count. He said this was the first time that this issue had occurred in the history of CNMI elections.

Reporter

K is a Gates Millennium Scholar who earned her bachelor of arts degree in political science from St. Francis College in Brooklyn, NY. Since joining MV in 2020, she has been covering the government, business, community, environment, & military beats.

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