TITLE 1: GOVERNMENT
DIVISION 6: ELECTIONS
§ 6001. Short Title. This part may be cited as the “Northern Mariana Islands Election Law.” Source: DL 5-19, § 1; PL 12-18, § 1, repealed and reenacted by PL 12-18, § 2. Commission Comment: DL 5-19 took effect September 6, 1977. According to DL 5-19, § 2: “This Act shall remain in force in the Northern Mariana Islands after the effective date of the Constitution [January 9, 1978] until it is amended or repealed.” Except for the omission of obsolete materials and changes in form, this part restates the substance of the Northern Mariana Islands Election Act of 1977. According to DL 5-19, § 19: “All election laws of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, the Marianas District, and any Municipal charter or ordinance as they affect the elections in the Northern Mariana Islands, are hereby repealed.” Repealed laws included 43 TTC §§ 1-455, MIDC ch. 2.32, Saipan Municipal Charter art. IV, §§ 1-4, Saipan Municipal Code title 2, §§ 1-51, Rota Municipal Charter art. IV, § 1 and Rota Municipal Code chs. 2.10 and 2.14. Pursuant to its authority to rearrange sections to fit harmoniously within the code, in the January 1997 revision the Commission divided title 1, division 6 into two parts (“Northern Mariana Islands Election Act” and “Other Election-Related Provisions”) and designated this chapter as the first chapter of the first part; the Commission did not change any section numbers. The Commission took this action because chapter one of part two (the Executive Transition Act) is not part of the Northern Mariana Islands Election Act. PL 12-18 became effective on September 14, 2000. PL 12-18 contained the following repealer and reenactment provision, transition provision, severability, and savings clause: Section 2. Repealer and Reenactment. 1 CMC, Division 6, Part 1 is hereby repealed and reenacted . . . Section 3. Transition Provisions. (a) The incumbent chairman and members of the Commonwealth Board of Elections and the executive director thereof shall serve as interim chairman, members, and executive director of the Election Commission established by this Act until their successors have been duly appointed and qualified pursuant to this Act. (b) No person registered to vote on the effective date of this Act shall be required to re-register under the Election Law as reenacted by this Act, and the register of voters maintained by the Board of Elections on the effective day of this Act shall be the initial register of voters for the Election Commission. Section 4. Severability. If any provision of this Act or the application of any such provision to any person or circumstance should be held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of this Act or the application of its provisions to persons or circumstances other than those to which it is held invalid shall not be affected thereby. Section 5. Savings Clause. This Act and any repealer contained herein shall not be construed as affecting any existing right acquired under contract or acquired under statutes repealed or under any rule, regulation or order adopted under the statutes. Repealers contained in this Act shall not affect any proceeding instituted under or pursuant to prior law. The enactment of this Act shall not have the effect of terminating, or in ay way modifying, any liability, civil or criminal, which shall already be in existence at the date this Act becomes effective.