The 2016 Northern Marianas general election has been certified after the Commonwealth Election Commission counted the 1,571 absentee ballots sent prior to the November 8 deadline.
The certified results reaffirms the CNMI Republican Party's domination of the House of Representatives and Senate races with the local GOP winning 15 of 20 House seats and all three Senate seats up for grabs.
Gregorio Kilili Sablan won an unprecedented fifth term as delegate to the US Congress Photo: USDA/Lance Cheung.
Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan also officially won an unprecedented fifth term as the CNMI's non-voting delegate to U.S. Congress, and remains the only one elected to that office since it was created in 2008.
Associate Judge Joseph Camacho will also return at the Superior Court as an overwhelming number of absentee ballots also voted for his retention.
The certified results helped Senator Paul Manglona increase his lead from challenger George Hocog for the Rota seat.
At the November 8th tabulation, Mr Hocog edged Paul Manglona by just six votes, 378-372.
But two-hundred-and-seventy-nine absentee votes increased Mr Manglona to 651 while Mr Hocog finished only with 478 votes after obtaining only 100 absentee votes.
