Northern Mariana Islands general election, 2005

Northern Mariana Islands
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
the Northern Mariana Islands

General elections were held in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) on Saturday, 5 November 2005, electing the Governor and Legislature. There was also a referendum on calling a Constitutional Convention, which was approved by voters.[1] The gubernatorial election was the closest in the commonwealth's history, and resulted in the election of Benigno Fitial, narrowly defeating independent Heinz Hofschneider by 84 votes and incumbent Republican Governor Juan N. Babauta by an additional 98 votes.

Background

The referendum on the Constitutional Convention was called in order to comply with Chapter XVIII, article 2 of the constitution, which required a referendum to be held at least every ten years on convening such a convention.[1] A referendum had been due in 2003 as the last referendum had been in 1993, but the Legislature had failed to organise it.[1]

15,118 people registered with the Election Commission to vote.[2]

Campaign

Four candidates ran for Governor, each with a running mate:

Results

Governor

Candidate Party Votes %
Benigno FitialCovenant Party3,76627.95
Heinz HofschneiderIndependent3,68227.33
Juan BabautaRepublican Party3,58426.60
Froilan TenorioDemocratic Party2,44018.11
Total13,472100
Source: Commonwealth Election Commission

Legislature

 Summary of the 5 November 2005 Northern Marianas Commonwealth Legislature election results
Parties Seats
House Senate
Covenant Party 7 3
Republican Party 7 3
Democratic Party 2 2
Independent 2 1
Total 18 9

Referendum

Choice Votes %
For7,39458.92
Against5,15641.08
Invalid/blank votes –
Total12,550100
Registered voters/turnout15,118
Source: Direct Democracy

References

  1. 1 2 3 Northern Mariana Islands, 5 November 2005: Election of a Constitutional Convention Direct Democracy (in German)
  2. ↑ Casas, Gemma Q. (2009-10-13). "Registered voters up by 15%". Marianas Variety. Retrieved 2009-10-12.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Hernandez, Criselda B. (2005). "Politics: 4-Way Gubernatorial Election Heats Up". Islands Business. Archived from the original on 2009-10-11. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
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