Turning out the vote ... for MicronesiaSL market one of 10 US polling sites

Two voters prepare to cast their votes for governor and the legislature Saturday. Seated at the table are Storm Lakers Selynna Butler and Sohder Sonden. The completed paper ballots were placed in the refrigerator-sized box behind the table and after voting Monday were sent to Pohnpei. Times Pilot photos by Dolores Cullen.

Posted Friday, November 17, 2023 12:00 am

By Dolores Cullen | Storm Lake Times Pilot

Storm Lake was one of two official polling sites in Iowa and 10 sites nationwide for Micronesian elections that took place at Pohnpei Market, 1205 Lake Ave.

Selynna Butler, who owns Pohnpei Market, went about petitioning and registering her business to be a polling place.

“I got it approved through the government,” she said Saturday in the back room of her shop, where tables were set up for voters and a paper-covered cardboard box with a slit in the top became the official ballot box.

While Saturday and Sunday were early voting days, Monday was the scheduled voting day.

In the end, 382 people voted in Storm Lake, which included some from Sioux City and other western Iowa locations.

All must be citizens of Micronesia. Butler is a citizen of Pohnpei, one of four states of the Federated States of Micronesia and the state from which most Storm Lake Micronesians hail.

Through the Compact of Free Association, citizens are allowed to freely travel, live and work in the country without a visa and with no time restraints.

“We just use our passport,” said Butler.

Micronesians born in the U.S. are dual citizens. They are eligible to vote if they are 18 or older.

Butler is firmly invested here in Storm Lake, an active member of the local health organization SALUD, lead organizer of last year’s International Women's Day celebration and proprietor of Pohnpei Market, a source for locals whose home country is 6,800 miles away.

She closed the shop to oversee the elections in the back room that is normally used for Pohnpei gatherings and the hometown language is spoken freely.

“It’s good that we support each other as a community,” she said. “And that we are good citizens by voting.”

When asked if there were hot issues or controversial candidates on the ballot, Butler said no, but that voting is still important.

Butler was proud to put Storm Lake on the map, alongside other U.S. polling places, the major ones located in Kansas City and Cincinnati.