by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - The Guam Election Commission closed the bids today for vendors who are interested in providing new election equipment. According to executive director Maria Pangelinan, the GEC is specifically looking for new central tabulation machines to use in this year's election.

"We're progressing, it's the next step and as we progress, we'll make sure we cross our T's and dot our I's and we hope to comply with all procurement rules and regulations," she said.

Pangelinan says an evaluation committee of vice chair Alice Taijeron and member John Taitano will open the bid packages on Monday before presenting them to the commission next Thursday during its regular meeting. Pangelinan confirms bids were submitted but not by all the vendors who were given notices. It was earlier this year when five companies replied to the GEC saying they provide federally certified equipment including the GEC's longtime vendor Election Systems & Software.