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Message from the Election Commissioner:
This webpage is for every eligible voter who would like to know the candidates running for the gubernatorial and senatorial positions in upcoming Elections. Further to help you have easy access to all information regarding elections held in the State of Yap. We hope that by uploading this webpage it would further help those of us that are living abroad and may be out of touch on the current happenings on Elections to be held in the State of Yap. In regards to those living abroad, in September 2012, a report was submitted by Fr. Francis X. Hezel and Dr. Michael J. Levin at the request of the FSM National Government. The report was the first assessment of FSM migrants living abroad and presented the findings and conclusions of the survey of the FSM Migrant Population in the U.S. mainland, Guam, Hawaii, and Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas islands. This report shows that the size of the FSM population living abroad, as counted in this survey, was 49,840. This total included those who moved from the FSM and children born to them in their new homes. The distribution of the migrant population among the sites surveyed was as follows: Guam 13,558; CNMI 4,286: Hawaii 7,948; and US mainland 24,048. According to the data survey, Yapese migrants represent 15%. Accordingly, I believe this website is an appropriate way to keep all Yapese living abroad and their counterparts on Yap informed on all Election matters. Remember that it is your right to vote and with that right you have the responsibility to make sure that your vote is cast for the betterment of our State and our People. Therefore, I encourage all eligible voters to participate in the democratic process. On Election Day, visit the polls to vote. Make your vote count. "YOUR ONE VOTE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE." by: Yap State Election Commissioner Office of the Election Commissioner P.O. Box 928 Colonia, Yap, FM 96943 Tel: +691-350-6130 email: stateelectionyap@gmail.com |
Leadership is not about the next election, it's about the next generation. " Simon Sinek FormsThe first form is for absentee ballot and the second one is your registration form. Please download the forms by clicking on the appropriate file below. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to let us know.
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Message to our youth in the State of Yap
1. THE YOUTH VOTE IS OFTEN UNDERESTIMATED
Yes, it is true; the trend analysts who tell party spin doctors where to target their advertising dollars and public relations effort traditionally over look the youth market. Why? Because the sad reality is that election year after election year the percentage of eligible youth who actually register and vote is very small when compared with other demographics.
This doesn’t mean the youth market isn’t a force, it just means that it isn’t a main motivator in the drafting of campaign platforms and pre-election advertising. So, like any self-respect rebellious young person the natural thing to do is go against the grain and do the unexpected. Keep them on their toes, shock them into the 21st century and get out and vote!
2. THE HOTTEST ISSUES ARE ALSO YOUTH ISSUES
The education funding, employment and job training programs, accessible health care, and reproductive rights are just a few of the current hot topics that directly impact the quality of your young life.
Think about the future and the world you will one day inherit and you can add environmental concerns, fossil fuel consumption, and the list just gets longer. Add any issues that are near and dear to your heart on a personal level and the list becomes a little overwhelming. If you don’t vote you effectively kiss off your ability to have any influence as to how these issues play out in your world. That’s just lame.
3. DEMOCRACY ONLY WORKS WHEN YOU WORK IT
Yeah, yeah, yeah, this one is an oldie, but hey let’s face it, it’s also a goody. A government by the people, for the people just can’t work without the people. This is a simple fact. Like a car without an engine, or a computer without a hard drive, a democracy without voters is just a shell.
While it is easy to think that one vote doesn’t make a difference the truth is that every vote counts. You have to remember that as an individual your vote may seem to be little more than a whisper but when your vote is combined with the votes of others who share your views it becomes a voice. The more like-minded voters there are the louder that voice grows. So get out there and make the youth vote to be heard.
4. DON’T VOTE, DON’T COMPLAIN
If you don’t vote you really have no right to complain about government decisions that you don’t like no matter how much they actually suck. If there is one thing that is really annoying to us actual voters it is the endless ramblings on the bad political policy of a current government spewing from the mouths of eligible voters who never bothered to cast a ballot.
If you don’t vote it is like saying you don’t care how your country is run, so if you don’t care where do you get the idea that you can complain when something happens that you don’t like? If you don’t vote you really have no right to complain about anything the government does.
If you’re like most young people you like complaining and have it down to a fine art. Want the right to complain when the powers that be make a truly heinous decision? Then you must exercise your right to vote.
5. VOTE BECAUSE YOU CAN
Voting is a tremendous gift. Young people just like you in other countries actually fight and even die for this right; a right that so many youth in democratic nations take for granted. You should vote because you can, if you don’t you may one day wake up in a country where you can’t. Enough said.
Yes, it is true; the trend analysts who tell party spin doctors where to target their advertising dollars and public relations effort traditionally over look the youth market. Why? Because the sad reality is that election year after election year the percentage of eligible youth who actually register and vote is very small when compared with other demographics.
This doesn’t mean the youth market isn’t a force, it just means that it isn’t a main motivator in the drafting of campaign platforms and pre-election advertising. So, like any self-respect rebellious young person the natural thing to do is go against the grain and do the unexpected. Keep them on their toes, shock them into the 21st century and get out and vote!
2. THE HOTTEST ISSUES ARE ALSO YOUTH ISSUES
The education funding, employment and job training programs, accessible health care, and reproductive rights are just a few of the current hot topics that directly impact the quality of your young life.
Think about the future and the world you will one day inherit and you can add environmental concerns, fossil fuel consumption, and the list just gets longer. Add any issues that are near and dear to your heart on a personal level and the list becomes a little overwhelming. If you don’t vote you effectively kiss off your ability to have any influence as to how these issues play out in your world. That’s just lame.
3. DEMOCRACY ONLY WORKS WHEN YOU WORK IT
Yeah, yeah, yeah, this one is an oldie, but hey let’s face it, it’s also a goody. A government by the people, for the people just can’t work without the people. This is a simple fact. Like a car without an engine, or a computer without a hard drive, a democracy without voters is just a shell.
While it is easy to think that one vote doesn’t make a difference the truth is that every vote counts. You have to remember that as an individual your vote may seem to be little more than a whisper but when your vote is combined with the votes of others who share your views it becomes a voice. The more like-minded voters there are the louder that voice grows. So get out there and make the youth vote to be heard.
4. DON’T VOTE, DON’T COMPLAIN
If you don’t vote you really have no right to complain about government decisions that you don’t like no matter how much they actually suck. If there is one thing that is really annoying to us actual voters it is the endless ramblings on the bad political policy of a current government spewing from the mouths of eligible voters who never bothered to cast a ballot.
If you don’t vote it is like saying you don’t care how your country is run, so if you don’t care where do you get the idea that you can complain when something happens that you don’t like? If you don’t vote you really have no right to complain about anything the government does.
If you’re like most young people you like complaining and have it down to a fine art. Want the right to complain when the powers that be make a truly heinous decision? Then you must exercise your right to vote.
5. VOTE BECAUSE YOU CAN
Voting is a tremendous gift. Young people just like you in other countries actually fight and even die for this right; a right that so many youth in democratic nations take for granted. You should vote because you can, if you don’t you may one day wake up in a country where you can’t. Enough said.