Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Northern Mariana Islands

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the Northern Mariana Islands

Governor Benigno R. Fitial Legislature Political parties Elections: 2007

Other countries · Atlas  Politics Portal view • talk • edit

The Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature is the territorial legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The legislative branch of the territory is bicameral, consisting of a 20-member lower House of Representatives, and an upper house Senate with nine Senators. Both Representatives and Senators serve two-year terms without term limits. The territorial legislature meets in the commonwealth capital of Saipan.

Similar to the United States Congress, the Senate seats is divided into three districts (three seats each) whose "boundaries" are identical to those of the municipalities (except that the barely inhabited Northern Islands is incorporated with Saipan), and the House seats are divided according to population, with one seat each for Rota and Tinian and the rest belong to Saipan (with one of the districts including the Northern Islands).

[edit] History

The modern legislature was created under Secretarial Order No. 2989 by federal Interior Secretary Thomas S. Kleppe effective April 1, 1976, replacing the less autonomous Mariana Islands District Legislature. The cabinet-level order reorganized local government in the commonwealth to reflect its greater self-government, which had established a political union with the United States in the previous year under a public plebiscite.

The Commonwealth was officially established in January 1978, and as the constitution prescribed, the first House of Representatives had 14 members (12 from Saipan). Over the years, as permitted by the constitution, House membership was increased to 20 (18 from Saipan) beginning with the 16th Legislature in 2008.

The Northern Mariana Islands' election calendar is quite unique in that general elections are held in odd-numbered years, and because the Commonwealth does not yet have representation in the U.S. Congress, there is no election at all in November of even-numbered years like everywhere else in the United States.

[discuss] – [edit]
Summary of the 3 November 2007 Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature election results

Parties	Seats
	House	Senate
Republican Party	12	—
Covenant Party	4	1
Independent	3	2
Democratic Party	1	—
Not up for election	—	6
Total	20	9
Source: Marianas Variety

[edit] See also

• Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives
• Northern Mariana Islands Senate
• List of Northern Mariana Islands Governors

[edit] External links

• Official website

v • d • e Legislatures of the United States United States Congress United States House of Representatives · United States Senate State legislatures Alabama (H, S) · Alaska (H, S) · Arizona (H, S) · Arkansas (H, S) · California (A, S) · Colorado (H, S) · Connecticut (H, S) · Delaware (H, S) · Florida (H, S) · Georgia (H, S) · Hawaii (H, S) · Idaho (H, S) · Illinois (H, S) · Indiana (H, S) · Iowa (H, S) · Kansas (H, S) · Kentucky (H, S) · Louisiana (H, S) · Maine (H, S) · Maryland (H, S) · Massachusetts (H, S) · Michigan (H, S) · Minnesota (H, S) · Mississippi (H, S) · Missouri (H, S) · Montana (H, S) · Nebraska · Nevada (A, S) · New Hampshire (H, S) · New Jersey (GA, S) · New Mexico (H, S) · New York (A, S) · North Carolina (H, S) · North Dakota (H, S) · Ohio (H, S) · Oklahoma (H, S) · Oregon (H, S) · Pennsylvania (H, S) · Rhode Island (H, S) · South Carolina (H, S) · South Dakota (H, S) · Tennessee (H, S) · Texas (H, S) · Utah (H, S) · Vermont (H, S) · Virginia (H, S) · Washington (H, S) · West Virginia (H, S) · Wisconsin (A, S) · Wyoming (H, S) Territorial legislatures American Samoa (H, S) · District of Columbia · Guam · Northern Mariana Islands (H, S) · Puerto Rico (H, S) · U.S. Virgin Islands

v • d • e Politics of Oceania  Australasia Australia · Christmas Island · Cocos (Keeling) Islands · New Zealand1 · Norfolk Island   Melanesia East Timor2 · Fiji · New Caledonia · Papua New Guinea3 · Solomon Islands · Vanuatu  Micronesia Federated States of Micronesia · Guam · Kiribati · Marshall Islands · Nauru · Northern Mariana Islands · Palau   Polynesia American Samoa · Cook Islands · French Polynesia · Niue · Pitcairn Islands · Samoa · Tokelau · Tonga · Tuvalu · Wallis and Futuna 1 Often included in Polynesia.  2 Often included in Southeast Asia.  3 Often included in Australasia.