McNinch: Double talking Grinches
By Ron McNinch For Pacific Daily News | Dec 21, 2023
In the last several weeks, I have been pointing out that the Guam Legislature refused to condemn the Hamas terrorism in October against innocent civilians in Israel.
I am still waiting to see the status of this committee referral. It seems the senators are still held hostage by the crazy folks who hang around there. Senators should worry more about normal rational people, like you.
A few good things have happened in the last term at the Legislature. Sen. Roy Quinata proposed Bill 95, which would abolish the Guam Primaries. He also cosponsored Bill 215 and Bill 216 with Senator Joe San Agustin. Bill 215 would address the public auditor and attorney general primaries. Bill 216 would address marking and enforcing electioneering rules at elections.
On the idea to abolish the primaries, there is simply no value in holding primaries on Guam. These are nonsense artificial elections that serve little purpose. While I don’t want to get into complicated math theories, the concept is pretty simple.
A two stage process results in no real advantages over a one stage process. The only potential effect is that eliminating a primary might save money in certain elections. While we haven’t faced this yet, any third-party candidate for governor or delegate to Congress could force a runoff election.
This would cost even more. I believe that there are Guam Organic Act and federal law requirements that must be followed. Primary elections for a number of offices are likely not allowed. The U.S. Virgin Islands regularly schedules runoff elections far in advance for this reason.
Bill 215 removes the primaries for the public auditor and attorney general positions. I do have an important point that needs to be considered in these offices. The “write in” option should be removed for these positions.
In 2022, there was a nonsense write in campaign for attorney general that was simply distracting. Further, there is no accountability for a person running a write in campaign. Any person running for an elective office should be required to file full financial paperwork and other certifications to the Guam Election Commission.
Bill 216 simply requires the Guam Election Commission to mark the boundaries for election sites. It also allows the Guam Police Department to enforce the laws around polling sites. At every election, there are over-exuberant supporters that sometimes go too far. This bill would correct that.
Finally, I would encourage the Guam Legislature to hold an oversight hearing on the 2022 dark money issue. As I have said in earlier columns, I am very concerned that a political action committee was totally unregulated in the last election. I believe that Guam Election Commission, the Guam Legislature, the Attorney General or the U.S. Attorney should look into this. No one seems to either care or want to take responsibility for enforcing Guam and federal laws.
On a final note, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas this coming week. My gift to the people of Guam will be to keep criticizing the Guam Legislature in the coming year. Many of the senators are double talking Grinches.