September 1st is the deadline for candidates running for American Samoa’s seat in the US Congress and the local House of Representatives to submit their nomination petitions with the required signatures.
As of last Friday four of the six candidates who took out nomination petitions for the congressional race had turned them in: Aumua Amata, Fualaau Rosie Lancaster, Tuifagaloa Dr Afu Lefaoseu and Samana Semo Veavea. Sandra King-Young and Meleagi Suitonu Chapman have yet to turn in their petitions.
For the House of Representatives, only 7 candidates from 4 districts have turned in their petitions. For District #14, Alataua no one has taken out a petition. Eight districts had only 1 person taking out a petition. Five candidates took out nomination petitions for District #15, Tuala-uta and that is so far the highest of any district. District #10: Ātūu, Leloaloa, Lepua, and Satala has three.
Candidates for Congress need 300 signatures of voters while candidates for the local House need 25 signatures of voters from their district.
Deputy Election Commissioner Fiti Tavai reminds that voters may only sign one candidate’s petition for each office. If a voter signs petitions for two different candidates running for the same office, that signature will be credited for the candidate who submitted their petition first.
Voter registration is continuing. “We’re seeing a lot of new people registering to vote, mainly recent graduates and individuals moving back home,” said Tavai. Documents needed to register to vote are a birth certificate or passport along with Social Security Number and a Photo ID.
The current number of registered voters is 13,503 and Tavai expects that the number will increase rapidly before the voter registration deadline on October 5.
