GEC makes sure Decision 2012 is squared away
As November's Super Tuesday nears, the Guam Election Commission wants to ensure that everything is squared away from registering as many voters as possible to offering several of its services to voters.
By KUAM NewsGuam - Less than three weeks remain until the Decision 2012 General Election. As November's Super Tuesday nears, the Guam Election Commission wants to ensure that everything is squared away from registering as many voters as possible to offering several of its services to voters.
"We're pushing voter registration and we're pushing that people show up to vote," said Maria Pangelinan, the GEC's executive director. And with approximately 49,510 voters registered as of October 16, she understands that not everybody will have a chance to make it to vote on November 6 especially because it's not a government holiday.
One of the services people can use who can't make it to the polls include homebound voting. "Homebound voting is service that the commission provides for those who cannot get out of bed and those who may be temporarily visited instead of coming to the polls and our office," she added.
The GEC only has two teams out on daily basis to accommodate homebound services. And during its board meeting, commissioners raised concern whether that was enough to accommodate homebound voters considering it continues up until Election Day. "So what the commission mentioned last night is we set up teams in every village, and so just like a rapid response team if somebody is requesting for homebound, then there's somebody that we can call on who can go out and visit the homebound," Pangelinan explained.
Meanwhile, the GEC is working diligently to ensure that all four tabulating machines remain working until November 6. Elections Systems & Software will be back for a second visit to conduct maintenance on the machines. "So as a preventive measure we're looking into possibly at professional movers how they can get it up there and the other option we have is to transport them in vans so it's a softer ride and get them there at the university," she said.
Meanwhile, financial disclosure statements are due tomorrow for elected officials, directors and board members who filed an extension with the GEC back in April. As of yesterday, 30 had yet to submit documents. In the meantime, district registration at the village mayor's offices started Wednesday along with over 600 ballots already cast through UOCAVA, homebound and in-office along with National Guardsmen and women who cast their votes before they leave for training and deployment.