Election bills heard
John O'Connor | The Guam Daily Post
Feb 11, 2024
Seven bills proposing election-related reforms received their public hearing Friday morning.
All of the bills are sponsored by Sen. Roy Quinata, and all but one are cosponsored by Sen. Joe San Agustin. Each measure was initially submitted as a legislative recommendation from the Guam Election Commission, according to GEC program coordinator Thomas San Agustin. The commission is required to provide regular reports and amendment recommendations to the governor and speaker.
The seven measures include Bill 215-37, which amends candidacy filing deadlines for the public auditor and attorney general and eliminates the primary election for those positions.
Thomas San Agustin, reading GEC's testimony, stated Friday that the commission would no longer need to procure, print, code and secure a second ballot for the public auditor and AG positions for a primary should Bill 215 become law. Under current law, these nonpartisan offices need to be placed in a separate ballot from partisan offices in a primary, according to Thomas San Agustin.
“Additionally, elimination of the nonpartisan ballot for the primary election may bring about quicker election results (and) reduce the labor results needed for tabulation,” he added.
Thomas San Agustin said the cost for procuring and printing the nonpartisan ballots would be a little more than $12,000, but the real savings from eliminating the public auditor and AG primaries would come from avoiding the man hours needed to tabulate the ballots.
“Because it is a separate ballot, (the labor cost) is pretty much the same amount as the partisan ballots,” he added.
Public Auditor Benjamin Cruz was also invited to testify Friday. He stated that among the seven measures, Bill 215 was the one that was somewhat related to his office and specifically related to his position. However, Cruz refrained from stating a position on the measure. The public auditor's office is up for grabs this election season, and Cruz has said that he plans to run again.
“Being that I am a potential candidate and the incumbent, it is improper for me to say I support or oppose the bill, as it might give the impression that whatever way it comes out would directly benefit my candidacy,” Cruz said Friday.
Another one of the seven measures was Bill 214-37, which would make it so that the names of write-in candidates would only be tabulated and published if the number of votes they received could change the results of a vote for that office. Otherwise, only the total number of write-in votes will be tabulated.
Bill 216-37 would mandate the Guam Police Department, upon request, to assist with enforcing an existing prohibition on electioneering at polling places.
Sen. Telo Taitague said this measure required input from GPD.
Thomas San Agustin said security normally costs around $40,000 for an election in general. He didn't have specific costs for handling electioneering, however.
“I would like to hear from GPD. Since this word 'shall' is in (Bill 216), it makes a big difference,” Taitague said.
The other measures include Bill 217-37, which amends the law on provisional ballots; Bill 218-37, which extends the term of appointment for a registration clerk and sets the registration deadline to 21 days before an election, from the current 10 days; and Bill 219-37, which changes the term “precinct” to “district” and defines what is a “name” for candidates or nominees.
Lastly, Bill 233-37 would require candidates, political parties and committees to file quarterly reports with GEC.
Taitague also expressed concerns about shortening the deadline to register for an election.
“I know you guys are trying very hard to entice people to vote, … but by closing it earlier … 21 days than 10 days prior to the election, don't you see that you're going to lose out on people that have that last-minute mentality or trying to rush to get registered? Do you see that missing out?” Taitague said.
Thomas San Agustin said there will “always be a line or a rush to register on the last day” but added that GEC has created “multiple avenues and a lot of ease” with registering.
“In the past election, we have seen now, when we have our district registration … the mayors' offices are not as crowded as they were back during that time,” Thomas San Agustin said.
“We believe one of the reasons why is because we are reaching out to a lot of voters through the motor voter program, through our online registration, through our district registrars and, of course, through the already established district registrars that (are) inside the mayors' offices,” Thomas San Agustin added.
He went on to say that GEC has increased the voter registry, stating that the total voter registration for the general election would have been about 55,000 a couple elections ago. Today, they are at 55,000 registrations before the primary and anticipate reaching 60,000 by the general election, Thomas San Agustin said.
