GEC prepares for Decision 2012 primary

by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - Decision 2012 is in full swing and with close to 100 people running for office in the upcoming September 1 primary election, it's set to be an interesting race.

"We want everybody to participate in this process and the more people who come out as a community to vote, the better off our island is," said Maria Pangelinan, executive director for the Guam Election Commission. And with over 40,000 people registered to vote on island, she reminds all voters that for the upcoming primary election, you can not cross-over. "You vote on one side of the ballot in the primary election - your voice will be heard, your vote will be counted," she noted.

And while there are several mayoral candidates who are running unopposed, she hopes this doesn't discourage voter turnout in the respective villages. She adds these candidates will be on the primary election ballot and will be certified at the conclusion of that election should they receive 10% of the vote from their district.

"The mayors and the vice mayors are really important people in our lives," Pangelinan said. "They're the closest elected official in most instances of our lives so they deserve to hear our voice as to who we should vote for."

The congressional race is a bit different as incumbent Madeleine Bordallo and newcomer Karlo Dizon will face off in the Democratic race, whereas Frank Blas, Jr. is running unopposed in the Republican race for Congress along with independent candidate Jonathan Diaz. Pangelinan says Blas will be on the primary ballot but will have to contend for 4% of the overall votes. For Diaz, Pangelinan says legal counsel is looking into the matter as to what's required and where he will be placed on the ballot.

The GEC meanwhile has spent the past several days verifying petitions to check whether those who signed are, in fact, registered voters. However, there will be two less to verify as some candidates have since withdrew from the race. The executive director told KUAM News, "Phillipe Cruz withdrew from the race and his statement simply says that he withdrew."

Cruz was running for senator under the Democratic ticket. With his exit, this means there are 15 candidates running on that party's ballot and raises the question as to whether there will still need to be a primary for the Democrat senatorial candidates. As for Republican side of the ballot, Republican senatorial candidate John Lujan gave the GEC oral notice that he would be withdrawing from the race as well. Additionally, public auditor candidate Zenaida Ascuncion withdrew from that race.

All of the candidates will then be certified when GEC reconvenes its meeting this weekend where it will also clarify questions on the independent candidates, approve the ballot design and draw names for the ballot placement. "If you're number one on the ballot maybe you have a better chance to win, if you're number 15 or 16 on the ballot maybe you have better to chance to win versus being in the middle of everybody," she said.

The meeting to certify candidates and approve the primary election ballot design is at 1:30pm tomorrow with the drawing of names for ballot placement at 3:30pm both at the GEC's Conference Room on the 2nd Floor of the GCIC Building in Hagatna.

The GEC also confirmed that Republican candidate Paul Reyes did not meet the threshold for signatures in his candidacy packet, so his name will not be passed on for certification.