Chapter 8: Procedure for
Conduct of Elections
§ 801. Supervision of polling places.
§ 802. Equipping and supplying polling places.
§ 803. Opening and closing of polls.
§ 804. Checking of register.
§ 805. Campaigning and alcoholic beverages at polling places.
§ 806. Poll watchers.
§ 807. Election irregularities.
§ 808. Disposition of ballot boxes after completion of voting.
§ 809. Counting of ballots, announcement of unofficial results.
§ 810. Certification of election results.
§ 811. Resolution of ties.
§ 812. Local counting and tabulating committee.
§ 813. Rejected ballots.
§ 814. Imperfectly marked ballots.
§ 815. Spoiled ballot.
§ 816. Rejection of ballot for technical error.
§ 817. Rejection of invalid portions.
§ 818. Write-in votes.
The National Election Director or the
national election commissioner of each State shall ensure that polling
places are supervised by the board of election and such other officials as
the National Election Director or the national election commissioner shall
deem necessary, who must be present at the designated polling places
during the election. Public schools and other public places shall be
utilized insofar as practicable as polling places. Rent shall not be
charged or paid for the use thereof.
Source: PL 2-73 § 801; amended by PL 8-97 § 19.
Case annotations: The National Election Commissioner has the power to establish voting precincts and designate polling places upon the recommendation of the members of the board of elections of the particular election district. Aten v. National Election Comm’r (II), 6 FSM Intrm. 74, 76-77 (App. 1993).
Each polling place shall be provided
with necessary ballot boxes, locks, official ballots, cards of
instructions, pencils, registered voters lists, papers, and all other
necessary supplies.
Source: PL 2-73 § 802.
At exactly seven a.m. of the day of
the election, a member of the board of election shall proclaim aloud at
each place of election that the polls are open and shall be kept open
until five p.m., of the same day, after which time the polls shall be
closed; provided, that if at the hour of closing there are any other
voters in the polling place, or in line at the door, who are qualified to
vote and have not been able to do so since appearing, the polls shall be
kept open a sufficient time to enable them to vote; provided further, that
if all registered voters appearing on a registered voters list for any
polling place have voted, that polling place may close irrespective of the
time of day; provided further, that if an election for State office is
held on the same day as the national election and the time for closing is
later than five p.m. then the closing time for the State election shall
prevail.
Source: PL 2-73 § 803; PL 3-36 § 1.
Case annotations: When a state election is held on the same date as the national election and the closing time for the state poll is later than the 5:00 p.m. closing time for the national election, then the later state closing time prevails for the national election as well. The poll remains open to allow all who are waiting in line at closing time to vote. Aten v. National Election Comm’r (II), 6 FSM Intrm. 74, 79 (App. 1993).
Any person appearing in the polling
place shall report his name in full and his address to the election
officials. An election official shall then check the register of
voters as to whether or not the person appearing is a registered voter and
if so, shall announce the name and address appearing in the register.
At this point a challenge may be interposed on the grounds that the
ballot is subject to challenge under law or rules or regulations issued by
the national election commissioner or the National Election Director.
Voting shall then proceed in accordance with procedures prescribed
by the national election commissioner; however, all voting shall be by
secret ballot.
Source: PL 2-73 § 804; amended by PL 8-97 § 20.
No campaigning shall be conducted
within 100 feet of a ballot box on election day and no alcoholic beverages
shall be sold, consumed in public or otherwise provided to any person
during election day while the polls are open. No candidate shall be
allowed within 100 feet of any ballot box except for the purpose of
casting his ballot. There shall be no campaigning over any State
broadcast station on election day.
Source: PL 2-73 § 805, as amended by PL 11-62 § 11.
Each candidate shall be entitled to
have not more than two poll watchers at each polling
place.
Source: PL 2-73 § 806.
Any person may file an oral or
written complaint of any election irregularity with a member of the board
of election present at the polling place. The board member shall
give any individual against whom the complaint is made time to present
witnesses and an explanation, if any, but in no event shall time be
granted so as to prevent the board of election from making a decision
prior to the time for the closing of the polls. The complainant, or
the individual against whom the complaint is made, may appeal the decision
to the national election commissioner of the State concerned or his
designated representative. The national election commissioner, or
his said representative, shall, as soon as possible, examine the findings
of the board of election and may hear may hear witnesses, if he deems
necessary. The national election commissioner, or his
representative, shall make his decision prior to the time of the closing
of the polls or as soon as practicable, and the aggrieved party may appeal
the decision in accordance with section 903 of this title. In the
event the decision of the national election commissioner, or his
designated representative, cannot be obtained as heretofore provided, the
aggrieved party may file a petition with the National Election Director
prior to certification of the results of the election or within one week
of the election, whichever occurs first. A candidate may appeal a
decision of the National Election Director or national election
commissioner or of the election board in accordance with section 903 of
this title.
Source: PL 2-73 § 807; amended by PL 5-70 § 15; PL 8-97 § 21.
After all voting is completed, all
ballot boxes shall be secured and locked. The locked boxes and all
other supplies provided to the polling places by the national
election commissioner shall be collected by election officials and
delivered to the national election commissioner of the State concerned, or
his duly authorized representative, by the most expeditious means
available and be certified to said national election commissioner that the
ballots so delivered were cast in accordance with provisions of this
title.
Source: PL 2-73 § 808.
The national election commissioner of
each State shall establish a counting and tabulation committee composed of
not less than five members. The committee shall publicly count and
tally all votes cast and determine the acceptability thereof. Such
counting of ballots cast in any election district shall begin after all
the polls in such election district are closed and shall continue until
all votes cast shall have been counted. Each candidate or his
authorized representative shall be entitled to be present at the
tabulation of the votes. Upon the completion of the counting and
tabulation of all votes cast in the election district, public announcement
of the unofficial results shall be made.
Source: PL 2-73 § 809.
Case annotations: The “two-of-three mechanism,” in which three tabulators tally the votes for a particular candidate as they are read aloud, and either all three tabulators, or at least two the three tabulators, must aloud, and either all three tabulators, or at least two of the three tabulators, must agree on the results for the results to be taken as correct, is not illegal, unreasonable, improper or prohibited. This mechanism will produce an accurate count for most ballot boxes. Olter v. National Election Comm’r, 3 FSM Intrm.
123, 135-37 (App. 1987).
Upon completion of the counting and
tabulation of election results by the national election commissioners, and
no later than three days after the certification of election results from
all four States have been received by the National Election Director, the
National Election Director shall certify the election results and shall
declare as the winning candidates for the Congress of the Federated States
of Micronesia from each election district the candidates receiving the
plurality of votes cast in each election. Upon certification and
declaration of the results, the National Election Director shall
immediately provide to all election candidates notice of such
certification in the most practical and expeditious manner
available.
Source: PL 2-73 § 810; amended by PL 8-97 § 22 and PL 11-62 § 12.
After all votes have been tabulated
by the national election commissioner and his or her designees and
certified to by the national election commissioner of the State concerned,
if two or more candidates shall have received an equal number of votes,
such tie shall be resolved by a runoff election between those candidates
held within 30 days. The candidate receiving the plurality of votes
in the runoff shall be declared the winner, and the result shall be
certified under the procedures of section 810 of this
chapter.
Source: PL 2-73 § 811; amended by PL 8-97 § 23, modified.
In precincts or other areas where the
national election commissioner of the State concerned deems it
impracticable that ballot boxes be delivered to a central place for
counting and tabulating, the national election commissioner shall appoint
a local committee to count, tabulate, certify, and report votes in such
manner and according to such rules as the national election commissioner
and the National Election Director shall establish.
Source: PL 2-73 § 812; amended by PL 8-97 § 24.
All ballots which have been declared
invalid due to defacement or other irregularity shall be sorted and a
notation placed upon them indicating that they are rejected ballots.
Upon completion of the counting of the ballots, the rejected ballots
shall be placed in the ballot box and returned by the counting and
tabulating committee to the national election commissioner with the
validly cast ballots.
Source: PL 2-73 § 813.
Two or more markings in one voting
square or a mark made partly within and partly without a voting square or
space does not make a ballot void.
Source: PL 2-73 § 814.
Any voter who spoils a ballot may
return it to a member of the board of election and receive another in its
place. He shall be given one ballot at a time; provided, that the
number of ballots given him is not to exceed three in all.
Source: PL 2-73 § 815.
At any
election a ballot shall not be rejected for any technical error which does
not render it impossible to determine the voter’s choice, even though the
ballot is soiled or partially defaced.
Source: PL 2-73 § 816.
If for any
reason a ballot is imperfectly marked if it is impossible to determine the
voter’s choice for any office, his ballot shall not be counted for the
office, but the rest of his ballot, if properly marked, shall be
counted.
Source: PL 2-73 § 817.
Write-in
votes may be used in general and special elections. Any name written
upon a ballot shall be counted as a vote for the person whose name is so
written for the office under which it is written.
Source: PL 2-73 § 818.