Governor: Vote on Nov. 2 Over 4,150 ballots spoiled

Governor: Vote on Nov. 2 Over 4,150 ballots spoiled

TUESDAY, 07 SEPTEMBER 2010 04:00 BY ZITA Y. TAITANO | VARIETY NEWS STAFF

GOVERNOR Felix Camacho says the low voter turnout during last Saturday’s primary is disappointing and that this should not be the case when the island observes its general elections this Nov. 2.

“My advice is to those who didn’t vote. You don’t have the right to complain. You can make a difference and if you missed the primary make sure you register for the general (elections) because this is going to be an extremely important period in the history of our island,” said the governor who is scheduled to leave his office after serving for a term of eight years.

Only 29,135 or over 58 percent of Guam’s 50,033 registered voters cast their votes during the Sept. 4 primary and a significant number of their ballots were considered spoiled.

Camacho said Guam’s electorate should seriously get involved in this year’s election because of its huge impact on their future.

“I’ve done a lot of work in my time to set up for the buildup, to lay the foundation of work and there’s so much going on that whoever takes over is going to be involved in the implementation and it’s critical that the island selects the right leader. Make your voice count and be part of the process,” he further said.

According to the Guam Election Commission, the spoiled/crossover ballots totaled 4,150.

Camacho said it’s unfortunate that there’s that many spoiled ballots.

Speaker Judith Won Pat said there were some contributing factors for the low turnout, including the weather.

“A lot of people come out at the last minute and we normally see that at the polls and candidates merge in one area because there is so much going on. We noticed that didn’t happen this time because the rain discouraged a lot of people,” she said.

Another factor she said was the fact that the Democratic Party has only one team for the gubernatorial race compared to the GOP’s two.

“It really was more on the Republican side because that’s where the real contest was at and all the time we know there are more Democratic votes than Republican votes, but because it’s a Republican gubernatorial primary, that’s where the numbers were,” she added. “(Also) I think what helped the numbers really are the Democratic votes from those that went and voted on the Republican side.”

As for the spoiled ballots, Won Pat believes the election commission needs to reassess the information on the ballot and change the format.

“Somehow the message is not getting out to the people that the primary election is really a process to eliminate candidates who are going to the general election. It has to be made clear that residents have to vote for one party only,” she said.

Senator Rory Respicio thinks the fact that there’s only one candidate for the U.S. delegate race—Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo of the Democratic Party--may have confused voters

“That’s always what we’ve seen in the past,” said Respicio. “The Guam Election Commission is going to have to figure what we can do by law to prevent these spoiled ballots.”

Senator Judith Guthertz, who came in number six in the Democrat senatorial race, felt residents, especially Democrats, are waiting for the general elections to come out and vote.

“I’m looking forward to the general elections and it will be exciting; particularly the gubernatorial because it’s going to be exciting. You have two prominent teams who are going to be visible,” she said.

Also surprised at the low turnout was attorney general candidate Lenny Rapadas.

“Maybe some of these people didn’t vote and they assumed that I’m going to do well. I want to call those people out and make sure that if they didn’t vote, they should come out. And the people who didn’t vote for me, I’d like to talk to them and find out what I can do to change their mind,” Rapadas said.

GEC Gets Eviction Notice as Over 48,000 Prepare to Vote

GEC gets eviction notice as over 48,000 prepare to vote

Friday, 03, September 2010 By Zita Y. Taitaino from mvariety.com

MORE than 48,000 registered voters on Guam are expected to head to the polls tomorrow for the primary election where 38 candidates are vying for 15 seats in the Legislature and two teams competing for the Republican Party’s endorsement for the gubernatorial race.

They will also choose Guam’s next attorney general and delegate to the U.S. Congress.

But GEC, which will count the votes at the University of Guam, is in for trouble after its landlord served it an eviction notice 48 hours before the election is held.

Guam Capital Investment Corp., which rents the building to GEC, demanded that it “vacate, quit and surrender the premises in good order, condition and repair, except for reasonable wear and tear.”

According to GCIC President Steffen Niu, GEC failed to pay the proper amount due for September in the amount of $534.58 as a holdover amount due.

“GCIC has the right to cash the check $12,297.34 without prejudice to collecting the shortage of $534.58 and without reinstatement of the lease. The termination is not withdrawn by the cashing of the said check and GEC must vacate the premises immediately,” Niu wrote to GEC Executive Director John F. Blas.

GEC rents GCIC’s property at $6,148.67 a month, inclusive of common area and other charges.

A complaint for unlawful detainer after default in payment of rent was also filed in the Superior Court by the law firm of Calvo & Clark, LLP.

The Democratic Party’s standard bearers, former Governor Carl T.C. Gutierrez and his running mate incumbent Sen. Frank B. Aguon Jr., are unopposed.

Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo, a Democrat, who is seeking another term as the territory’s nonvoting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, is also running unopposed.

Guam Election Commission Executive Director John Blas said the polling places will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.

Their records show, 48,511 registered to vote for this general elections.

Blas said he’s expecting a voters’ turnout of up to 75 percent.

Close to 3,000 registered voters already cast their votes at GEC through the early in-house voting program.

“I would say we are above 2,600 people in terms of early voting. I’m led to believe voters will come out to the polls. It’s difficult for me to give a percentage but I’m under the impression we’ll have a good voter turnout,” he said.

Residents who vote at the polling sites, however, must vote for one party. If they vote for a Democrat candidate, they must vote on the Democrat side of the ballot. The same goes for the Republican side of the ballot.

On the ballot is the position for governor and lt. governor, Guam delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, the senatorial race for the 31st Guam Legislature, the position of vice mayor for the village of Agat, and the Attorney General of Guam.

Running on the Republican ticket in the gubernatorial race are Senators Eddie Calvo and Ray Tenorio for governor and lt. governor, respectively.

They are up against Lt. Governor Mike Cruz and Senator James Espaldon.

In the race, for Attorney General are former Guam U.S. Attorney Lenny Rapadas, assistant attorney general William Bischoff, and private attorney Gary Gumataotao.

The Democratic Party fielded 19 candidates for the senatorial race and so did the GOP.

Vying for the Agat Vice Mayor race is Derick Baza Hills, Joe Salas, and incumbent Vice Mayor Augustin Quintanilla.

Blas said GEC will still allow voters in line even if the polls close at 8 p.m.

“If there are still voters still in line, a precinct official will stand at the end of the line, and the person standing in front of the official will be considered the last voter when the inspector announces the polls are closed,” Blas explained.

In the meantime, Blas said the election board meets today at the University of Guam Field House to test the four tabulating machines for Saturday night when the precinct officials arrive with the ballot boxes.

Counting is expected to start at around 9 p.m. and unofficial results are expected to start coming out about an hour later. The final unofficial results may be completed early in the morning at around 2 a.m.

With reports by Janela Buhain

Guam Primary Results

Bordallo, Aguon, Calvo finish strong in Primary
by Ronna Sweeney, KUAM News
Sunday, September 07, 2008

Low voter turnout may have been the key to having ballot tabulation for Saturday's Primary Election for Decision 2008 wrapped up shortly before 2am Sunday. In the race for Guam's congressional delegate, the incumbent Madeleine Bordallo took it by a landslide against Democrat challenger Jonathan Diaz. The tally - Bordallo got 8,766 votes, besting Diaz's 2,962.

In the all-important senatorial race, for the Democrats Frank Aguon, Jr. laid claim to the top spot, followed by B.J. Cruz and Ben Pangelinan. Sitting respectively at number four is Judi Won Pat who is closely trailed by Rory Respicio. Tina Rose Muna-Barnes took home the number 7 position, Adolpho Palacios came in at 8, trailed by Dr. David Shimizu at 9. And for the finishers in ranks 10-16 the list saw Dr. Judi Guthertz, Joseph Leon Guerrero, Matt Rector, Rosanna San Miguel, Robert Benavente, Phillipe Cruz and Luis Duenas.

In the Republican senatorial race, Eddie Calvo came in at number one, with Jim Espaldon at number 2 and Ray Tenorio at number 3. Frank Blas, Telo Taitague, Frank Ishizaki, and Mark Forbes follow thereafter. And rounding out the listing of 10 members of the GOP are Doug Moylan, Jesse Lujan and Dr. Dennis Borja.

View real-time Primary Election results by clicking hereStream KUAM's Election Night specialResults from the UOG exit poll

Tiny Guam has Its Say

Tiny Guam has its say on US presidential outcome
AFP
May 3, 2008

On the distant Pacific island of Guam, nearly a day's plane ride from Washington, a few thousand voters seized centre stage Saturday in the race for the US Democratic presidential nomination.

Turnout for the Democratic caucus was low early in the day as temperatures hovered around 90 degrees (32 Celsius), but local party officials expect some 4,000 people would vote before the polls close at 8:00pm (1000 GMT).

Although there are only four party votes at stake, each one has now become crucial in an epic clash where Barack Obama leads Hillary Clinton by a narrow margin estimated at 1,738 to 1,599.

The results are expected around 1600 GMT Saturday and there was no obvious pre-election favourite.

The caucus is the only opportunity Guam residents will get to influence the presidential outcome; the island's people, while US citizens, are not allowed to vote in November's election for the White House.

"We're a little island that doesn't matter most of the time because we're thousands of miles away from DC," said local resident Tes Venzon.

"This political event gives us our chance to push for our own local issues, which are largely ignored by Washington."

Guam, which has been a US territory since 1898, rarely steps anywhere near the limelight in US politics, lying as it does right on the other side of the international dateline.

So its sudden high profile on the political scene has prompted some jokes from commentators, as the island is more known as a US military base and scene of some of the bloodiest battles against the Japanese in World War II.

The Western Pacific island of just 540 square kilometres (209 square miles) has about 48,000 registered voters, and residents wanted Obama and Clinton to address its political status and self-determination.

"In this situation in which every single delegate vote counts to win the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, Guam suddenly feels its own political significance," said Guam Democratic Party chairman Tony Charfauros.

"We used to not get this kind of national attention, but when the caucus started coming up, all the issues affecting Guam suddenly received attention in the nation's capital."

Neither Obama nor Clinton visited Guam ahead of the vote but both vowed to address local issues, such as the relocation of 8,000 Marines from Okinawa in Japan and war reparation claims.

"I'm supporting Barack Obama because I think he will be the new face of America, with that kind of mixture and optimism that is exactly what we need. And with a president like that, our status will go up," Miget Tarpley said as she went to vote.

To which Clinton supporter Leah Ortiz retorted: "Hillary's plans for us are more specific.

"Obama's plans for Guam sound like press releases. They're vague. Most of the Obama supporters on Guam are young, college students, many of whom are not registered voters."

One major campaign concern are plans by Washington to transfer thousands of troops over the next decade as it faces base closures in Japan.

The US military owns nearly one-third of Guam, which is home to one of the largest US naval bases in the region, and the island is banking on the buildup to bail it out of its economic woes.

Obama has pledged that local contractors would get the lion's share of the upcoming construction work to build homes and offices for the arriving forces.

His campaign has insisted that the Illinois senator, born in Hawaii, has an instinctive understanding of the problems facing the tiny territory.

Apart from the island's four delegates to the party's nominating convention in August, it also has five so-called superdelegates who can vote for whoever they like.

One of them is Madeleine Bordallo, the island's only representative to the US Congress, who has yet to take sides.

The local Pacific Daily News estimates Clinton and Obama will get at least one each of the superdelegates.

Democratic Battles Shifts to the Pacific

Wednesday May 2, 2008
Democratic battle shifts to Pacific at weekend

By Maureen Maratita
Reuters

THEY can't vote for the president, but thousands of people in the tiny U.S. territory of Guam will do their bit to decide the Democratic candidate this weekend.

The Pacific Ocean territory, which sends eight delegates with half a vote each to the Democratic convention in August, holds its primary on Saturday.

With Barack Obama leading Hilary Clinton by an estimated 1,733-1,598 in the delegate count, the vote from Guam may not count for much.

But the grueling fight between the two has riveted attention in the territory.

"It is a rare opportunity for the citizens of Guam to participate in the presidential primaries in a way that can have real effect," said Ron McNinch, a professor of public administration at the University of Guam.

"Usually, the main choices have formed by the time of the Guam process."

Guam, a 212 square mile island in the Western Pacific Ocean, was ceded to U.S. control at the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898. It is the only significantly populated U.S. territory to have ever been occupied by a foreign power -- the Japanese during World War Two.

The island returned to U.S. control in 1944. The Americans then built up an air base there, which saw heavy action for bombing runs during the Korean and Vietnam wars.

The United States plans to move 8,000 Marines and 10,000 dependents from the southern Japanese island of Okinawa to Guam by 2014 as part of a global realignment of U.S. forces.

According to the Guam Election Commission, there are about 48,000 voters out of the island's 170,000 people, and about half of them are registered Democrats.

Only about 4,000 of these are likely to vote in the Democratic primary, but that is a huge jump from the 1,500 who voted in 2004.

The territory will also send five superdelegates to the Democratic convention.

People in Guam vote for a 15-seat unicameral house but have no electoral votes in the U.S. presidential elections.

"While it is ironic that Guamanians cannot vote for president, it is even more ironic that Guam has no voice in the U.S. Senate," McNinch said.

"For the first time since President Kennedy was elected in 1960, the president elected in 2008 will come directly from the U.S. Senate. Thus, the people of the U.S. territories face many ironies in their political relationships with the U.S. federal government."

But Guam is an island that has its own priorities. Democratic voters in the village of Inarajan cast their votes for the primary on April 26, so the village could celebrate the Feast of St. Joseph through the weekend of May 3.

On an island that has an annual calendar of fiestas set in stone, nobody has found that the least bit extraordinary.


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