The Commonwealth Election Commission board unanimously approved the certification of 72 of 75 candidates for the 2026 general elections during its meeting last Monday, Aug. 10, at the CEC office in Susupe.
CEC executive director Kayla Igitol Magofna recommended that the board certify the 72 candidates after commission staff reviewed the petitions submitted for the Nov. 3 general elections.
The board voted unanimously to accept her recommendation.
“We are certifying 72 out of the 75 candidates that have submitted their petition for 2026 general elections,” the board announced following the vote.
Magofna told Marianas Press after the meeting that the three remaining candidates were not certified for different reasons.
“Well, one didn't meet the certification, one was challenged, and another one we are still looking into their qualifications,” she said.
Shortly before 7pm last night, after notifying the concerned candidates, Magofna told Marianas Press via social media that Luis Sablan, a candidate for mayor of Saipan, did not obtain the required 100 signatures for his nominating petition, while a challenge was submitted questioning whether Keli A. Tenorio, a candidate for Northern Islands mayor, meets the residency requirement.
Magofna declined to identify the third candidate because that individual had not yet been notified.
During the board meeting, Magofna said Sablan submitted his petition at 4pm and that she cautioned him at the time that he might not have obtained the required number of signatures.
“And I told him there was no other way,” she told the board. “He had to acquire 100 signatures, which he didn't.”
The commission requires 200 signatures for candidates for governor, attorney general and U.S. delegate; 100 for mayor, Senate, municipal council and Board of Education; and 50 for House of Representatives candidates. Petition signatures must come from registered voters.
As for Tenorio, Magofna told Marianas Press earlier that the challenge concerns residency.
The filing of the challenge does not, by itself, establish that Tenorio fails to meet the residency requirement. Her candidacy was not among the 72 certified last Monday while the matter remained pending.
Asked if Tenorio can appeal the non-certification of her petition of candidacy, Magofna said, “It will go through the administrative process.”
The third candidate, meanwhile, could still be certified. Magofna said the commission received information shortly before Monday's meeting that requires further review.
“There was a concern that just came in right before the board meeting and didn't give us ample time to look into it further,” she said. “So that's the only reason why we held off on it.”
Asked whether that candidate could still be certified, Magofna said, “He can.”
She also confirmed that the number of certified candidates could therefore increase from 72 to 73 after the commission reviews the matter.
The board also unanimously approved the layout for the 2026 general elections ballot. Candidate names have not yet been placed on the ballot because ballot-position drawings still have to be conducted.
Magofna said approval of the layout allows CEC to move forward once those drawings are completed.
“It's important because then now, as soon as they do the ballot raffles placements for our candidates, we can shoot the layout to our vendor so they can start printing the 2026 general elections ballots,” she said.
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