to the Assistant Secretary, Territorial and _Interr_1_aU1•n<1 I Affairs, United States Department of the Interior NGIRATKEL ETPlSON Pre:s!.dent March ,, 1990 Serial: 134 ~PUBLIC c!f PALAu ~('&~~/ The Honorable Stella c;. Ciuerra Assistant Secretary Territorial & International AUairs U.S. Department of the Interior Office of the Secretary Washington, D.C. 20240 Dear Madame Secretary: ... 0, iOI 100, KOf~, Pilaw 969•0 Pflo~•• IUH03 T•luo 721-4914 , .. , uu I am forwarding to you in the en<:losure copie$ of documents from the Palau Election Commission~r certifying the result of the Rtferendum on the Compact of Free Association held on rebruary ~ and 6, 19~0. As Indicated in the Election Commissioner's report, the 7'% vote requirement for the approval of the Compact was not attained in the recent referendum and, therefore, Palau has not completed its process for the implementation of th~ Compact. However, an issue has arisen as to whether "votes cast" in the Compact Referendum includes void, bl~n!< or rejected ballots, Courts in the United States has held that "vot~s cast" are those votes which are legal and our Attorney Cieneral hu ruled that "illegal votei do not constitute votes !nd are not to be counted in determining whether or not three fourths of the vote• cast in favor .... " Catlett v. Knoxville S&E RY!.. C2.!J 112 S.W, .5.53 (Ten). Blank ballots are not "votes cast11• Hick(S vtS r'!ia¥fiu~, 1 0& P. 482 (Ariz:.), See also Mueller v; Holte~ 194 N. W. !'41+ • • • ere fore, void, blank and rejected ballots may not counted In d:termining the total votes cast. The results of the referendum were 60.896 "yes" votes and 39.2% "no" votcts as reportf!d by the Counting and Tabulation Committee V~d not the figures used by the Election Commission which included "illegal ballots". 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be related to a political and administrative process in Palau, specifically the referendum on the Compact of Free Association with the United States. The document discusses the results of the referendum and the interpretation of the voting rules. It seems that the main focus is on the legal and administrative aspects of the process, rather than any specific economic, social, or environmental issue.

**Category**
International trade, Humanitarian aid and relief