CHAPTER 2
Registration
§ 1101. Placement of ballot.
§ 1102. Persons entitled to vote; Compliance with registration provisions.
§ 1103. Affidavit of registration; Prerequisite; Making and contents.
§ 1104. Times for registration.
§ 1105. Place of registration.
§ 1106. Appointment of registration clerks.
§ 1107. Qualifications of registration clerks.
§ 1108. Penalties for acts or omissions.
§ 1109. Permanence of records.
§ 1110. Grounds for cancellation of registration.
§ 1111. Report of deaths.
§ 1112. Reports of adjudged incompetents.
§ 1113. List of registrations.
§ 1114. Copies of list to candidates.
§ 1115. Delivery of registration lists to precinct boards
No person shall be placed on the ballot for election to any public office unless the Commission has determined after a thorough examination and investigation that said person possesses or meets the qualifications required by law and the Constitution for the office for which he seeks nomination.
Source: CSL 3-95-26, § 9.
Cross-reference: The constitutional provisions on suffrage and elections are found in Article XII of the Chuuk State Constitution which reads as follows:
Article XII
SUFFRAGE AND ELECTIONS
Section 1. A general election shall be held every 2 years on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in March. If the general election date for the Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia is changed from March, or reasons such as natural disaster preclude the holding of an election on the date set, the election shall be held as prescribed by statute.
Section 2. A citizen of the Federated States of Micronesia who is a resident of the State of Chuuk and has attained the age of 18 may vote in the State. Voting shall be secret.
Section 3. The Legislature shall prescribe by statute a minimum period of voter residency; disqualifications for conviction of crime, mental incompetence, or insanity; and for the protection of voting in the State of Chuuk. Except as so provided, no resident entitled to vote may be denied the privilege to vote or be interfered with in voting.
Section 4. There shall
be an independent Election Commission vested with powers, duties, and
responsibilities, as prescribed by statute, for the administration of
elections in the State of Chuuk, including voter registration and the
conduct and certification of elections.
Every person not confined to a mental institution, nor judicially declared insane, nor committed under a sentence of imprisonment, who is a citizen of the FSM over 18 years of age, or who shall have reached his eighteenth birthday on the day set for election, who is a resident of Chuuk and who complies with the provisions of this Act Chapter governing the registration of electors, is entitled to vote at any primary, general, runoff, special, or local election to be held within the State of Chuuk; provided that in the election of municipal officers only those otherwise qualified electors who reside within the municipality concerned shall have the right to vote for such municipal officers.
Source: CSL 3-95-26, § 10.
No person shall be registered as a voter except by affidavit of registration made before the registration clerk in the municipality wherein such person resides, or before a registration clerk in the office of the Commission. Before such affidavit shall be made, the person shall be asked if he is currently registered to vote in any other jurisdiction(s). If he answers affirmatively, he shall identify said jurisdiction and complete and sign an attested statement on a form provided by the Commission which requests the cancellation of his registration and which shall be forthwith forwarded by the Commission to that jurisdiction. If he answers negatively, he shall nonetheless identify the jurisdiction in which he last voted. The Commission shall prepare forms for the collection of this data, and may require the submission of such additional information as will enable it to comply with this Section. The affidavit shall then be made in duplicate, and shall set forth all the facts required to be shown by this Act Title and the election manual.
Source: CSL 3-95-26, § 11.
Thirty (30) days prior to any general, primary, or special election, the registration rolls shall be closed for that election, and no further affidavits of registration shall be accepted by the Commission, except for those who turn 18 years of age within the 30 days period.
Source: CSL 3-95-26, § 12.
The registration of electors shall be in progress at the main office of the Commission during such hours as the office is open for business at all times prior to the closing of the registration rolls. Electors may also be registered at such times and places within and outside of the State as the Commission shall deem advisable and convenient and may deputize volunteers on a temporary basis for such purposes who are qualified as set out in this Act Title.
Source: CSL 3-95-26, § 13.
All members and regular employees of the Commission have the power to register voters and to administer the oath, and shall perform the day to day registration. Not later than 60 days before an election, the Commission shall appoint a temporary registration clerk for each precinct within Chuuk State and for each polling place outside of Chuuk State. Each clerk has the power to administer the oath of registration. No registration fee shall be collected.
Source: CSL 3-95-26, § 14, modified.
The Commission may appoint other government employees as registration clerks. No person holding an elective office or who is a candidate for elective office shall be appointed as a registration clerk. The registration clerk shall be an elector of the precinct wherein appointed.
Source: CSL 3-95-26, § 15.
Any person having charge of affidavits of registration is guilty of a misdemeanor who:
Source: CSL 3-95-26, § 16, modified.
The registration of a voter is permanent for all purposes during his life, unless and until the affidavit of registration is canceled by the Commission for any of the causes specified in this Act Title. It shall be the duty of the Commission to send to each registered voter when requested a card indicating that he is eligible to vote at any election without the necessity of registering.
Source: CSL 3-95-26, § 17.
The Commission shall cancel the registration in the following cases:
Source: CSL 3-95-26, § 18, modified.
Not later than the fifteenth day of each month the Director of Health Services or his designee shall furnish the Commission an abstract of the register of deaths of electors for the previous month showing, for all decedents eighteen (18) years of age or over, the
Source: CSL 3-95-26, § 19,
modified.
Every judge before whom proceedings are held which result in any person being declared incapable of managing or taking care of either himself or his property or both, and for whom a guardian of his person or his estate or both is accordingly appointed, or which results in his being committed to an insane place or asylum as an insane person, shall file with the Commission a certificate of that fact and thereupon the Commission shall cancel the name of that person from the register.
Source: CSL 3-95-26, § 20.
The Commission shall prepare and compile a registration list of all voters and provide sufficient copies thereof for use in a general election, or any other election.
Source: CSL 3-95-26, § 21.
Upon written request of any candidate in any forthcoming election or upon written request of his campaign committee, the Commission shall furnish to him one (1) copy of the registration list of voters for such election. Extra copies to candidates or copies furnished to others shall be at a charge as may be prescribed in the Election Manual. All moneys so collected shall be paid into the Treasury of the State of Chuuk.
Source: CSL 3-95-26, § 22.
Before the day of election, with the other election supplies, the Commission shall deliver to the precinct board in each precinct or polling place a complete list of registered voters for that precinct or polling place. The List shall constitute the register to be used at that election.
Source: CSL 3-95-26, § 23.