Allegations of election fraud recanted; results certified
Dededo Precinct official Catherine Peredo has recanted and withdrawn a previous complaint about the election ballots.
November 21, 2014Updated: November 21, 2014
By KUAM News
By KUAM News by Sabrina Salas Matanane
Guam - For many it wasn't a surprise the Guam Election Commission would certify the results from the November 4th general election Saturday morning, which solidified another four years for incumbent Governor Eddie Calvo and Lt. Governor Ray Tenorio.
The shocking part occurred just prior to certification as GEC members were addressing the 30 administrative complaints that were filed regarding the general election. Out of the 30, the GEC will be forwarding one to the Attorney General's office.
As we reported earlier this week a complaint was filed on November 17th by Catherine Peredo, a Dededo Precinct Official. The complainant swore under penalty of perjury through a notarized affidavit claiming to have seen ballots that were pre-marked in an ice cooler. Peredo had noted the ballots were allegedly pre-marked for Calvo Tenorio and several senatorial candidates.
During this morning's meeting however GEC Executive Director Maria Pangelinan says Peredo had since recanted and withdrawn her statements. In a disclosure notice submitted Friday, Peredo stated:
"First of all, I would like to say that I didn't prepare the affidavit, it was Bernadette Meno. We were instructed to pick up the document over at Copy Xpress and have it notarized there. We got the email through an employee there, when we receive the affidavit.
She asked if we read it, but because we were in a hurry and tired, I just signed it and didn't read it. I only wanted to let the GEC director know that I wanted to correct the matter regarding the ballot in the cooler.
On Election Day, I did see a ballot, but not to sure after the passage of time whether it was (an) official general election ballot or sample ballot and it was only one ballot that I saw.'
Meno is currently employed at Senator Rory Respicio's office. Senator Respicio is the Committee Chair on Election Reform and is also the Chairperson of the Democratic Party of Guam. He hired Meno after she was terminated from the Port Authority of Guam where she was employed as the Marketing Administrator. Meno along with several other port workers were terminated in December 2012 for their role in an alleged conspiracy to defraud the government and cover it up. Her case is still before the Civil Service Commission.
During Saturday's meeting GEC Legal Counsel Jeff Cook told commissioners that whether there's criminality, that's something that needs to be taken up at later time should the GEC determine that it should be sent to the Attorney General. Commissioners eventually passed a motion to forward the matter to the AG's office.
The General Election in the meantime is closed out. The GEC officially certified the results from the General Election. The certification comes one day after the GEC conducted a ballot reconciliation of the votes for four precincts for the Gubernatorial Race. The hand recount was done following a request by Gutierrez Gumataotao campaign chairperson Joaquin Perez. There were no major differences found in the count with Calvo Tenorio still winning every single precinct, which is a first in election history in Guam.
Guam - For many it wasn't a surprise the Guam Election Commission would certify the results from the November 4th general election Saturday morning, which solidified another four years for incumbent Governor Eddie Calvo and Lt. Governor Ray Tenorio.
The shocking part occurred just prior to certification as GEC members were addressing the 30 administrative complaints that were filed regarding the general election. Out of the 30, the GEC will be forwarding one to the Attorney General's office.
As we reported earlier this week a complaint was filed on November 17th by Catherine Peredo, a Dededo Precinct Official. The complainant swore under penalty of perjury through a notarized affidavit claiming to have seen ballots that were pre-marked in an ice cooler. Peredo had noted the ballots were allegedly pre-marked for Calvo Tenorio and several senatorial candidates.
During this morning's meeting however GEC Executive Director Maria Pangelinan says Peredo had since recanted and withdrawn her statements. In a disclosure notice submitted Friday, Peredo stated:
"First of all, I would like to say that I didn't prepare the affidavit, it was Bernadette Meno. We were instructed to pick up the document over at Copy Xpress and have it notarized there. We got the email through an employee there, when we receive the affidavit.
She asked if we read it, but because we were in a hurry and tired, I just signed it and didn't read it. I only wanted to let the GEC director know that I wanted to correct the matter regarding the ballot in the cooler.
On Election Day, I did see a ballot, but not to sure after the passage of time whether it was (an) official general election ballot or sample ballot and it was only one ballot that I saw.'
Meno is currently employed at Senator Rory Respicio's office. Senator Respicio is the Committee Chair on Election Reform and is also the Chairperson of the Democratic Party of Guam. He hired Meno after she was terminated from the Port Authority of Guam where she was employed as the Marketing Administrator. Meno along with several other port workers were terminated in December 2012 for their role in an alleged conspiracy to defraud the government and cover it up. Her case is still before the Civil Service Commission.
During Saturday's meeting GEC Legal Counsel Jeff Cook told commissioners that whether there's criminality, that's something that needs to be taken up at later time should the GEC determine that it should be sent to the Attorney General. Commissioners eventually passed a motion to forward the matter to the AG's office.
The General Election in the meantime is closed out. The GEC officially certified the results from the General Election. The certification comes one day after the GEC conducted a ballot reconciliation of the votes for four precincts for the Gubernatorial Race. The hand recount was done following a request by Gutierrez Gumataotao campaign chairperson Joaquin Perez. There were no major differences found in the count with Calvo Tenorio still winning every single precinct, which is a first in election history in Guam.