§ 6309. Person Eligible for Only One Public Office
TITLE 1: GOVERNMENT DIVISION 6: ELECTIONS § 6309. Person Eligible for Only One Public Office. No person shall be eligible for more than one public office to be filled in the same election or different elections held at the same time. The term “election” as used in this section includes a general, local, or special election held on the same date, so as to prohibit a person from running for office in a local election and in a general election or in a special election at the same time. Source: PL 18-63 § 2 (Sept. 5, 2014), modified. Commission Comment: The Commission struck the figure “1” from the ti- tle and the body of the section pursuant to 1 CMC § 3806(e). The Commission corrected the capitalization of the word “section” pursuant to 1 CMC § 3806(f). PL 18-63 (Sept. 5, 2014) contained, in addition to savings and severability clauses, the following Findings and Purpose section. Section 1. Findings and Purpose. The Commonwealth Legislature finds that the current Commonwealth Election Law does not prohibit candidates from running for multiple public offices. However, the Com- monwealth Constitution prohibits an elected public official from holding another government employment position. So if a person is elected to two positions and chose one over the other, a special election would be re- quired to fill the position that was turned down. This is because the posi- tion that was declined would not automatically go to the runner up. This scenario would create confusion to the voters and increase the cost of special elections. Accordingly, the purpose of this legislation is to prohib- it a person from running for more than one public office in any election.
Source: CNMI Law Revision Commission