It's a cost-saving measure aimed at increasing voter turnout. However, legislation to eliminate the primary election isn't winning the votes of one longtime member of both the Democratic Party and the Guam Election Commission.

It's a simple cost-saving measure. Senator Joe San Agustin explained, saying, "Everybody I've ran into at Cost-U-Less, everywhere I've been since I've introduced this have all said it's about time we stop wasting money."

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While we're more than 500 days or about 17-months away from the 2018 primary election, Senator San Agustin is thinking fast and looking at ways to save money for the GEC. His Bill 45 would eliminate having the primary election. The General Election in November would also be a government holiday. "Every election year, they only eliminate one or two in the democrat, one or maybe two in the republican, so I don't think it's right that the people of Guam pay for a primary election that the party can handle themselves," he said.

The GEC estimates about $350,000 to hold a primary election. While he's not speaking on behalf of the entire party, GEC commissioner and longtime Democrat Kin Perez says the bill is problematic, adding the economics simply isn't there. He said, "The primary reason of the bill is to save money - as somebody who has been on the GEC since 1982, it ain't gonna save money."

As for leaving the primaries up to the parties, Perez says the Democrats at least don't have the funding. "Democrats don't have that kind of money, and if we do it on a convention basis, are we going to get all the votes that are needed to come out and actually truly pick a candidate for the general that is a mandate of the party," he said.

San Agustin says it's totally possible as the parties hold a convention every year, with the senator saying, "If the party actually feeling it's a burden on them, then you're putting the burden on the people of Guam to start."

And with at least up to five democrats and two republicans speculated for the gubernatorial race next year, he does have concern over whether any can garner the required 50% plus one vote count, which if they don't will result in a run-off election. "You save the money we would pay the Precinct officials, the $350 a day, but then you would pay them that anyways in the run-off, there's no way to guarantee that there will be no runoff," he said.

Perez says the bill needs work, but what he does support is making the General Election a government holiday. San Agustin says the committee on rules recently referred the bill back to him because it was missing a fiscal note. "The bill as I turned it in, it was referred back to me because of money - the money is there, if you get rid of the primary, the money is there to pay for the general and if it's not enough, I think we can still come up with the money to pay for the holiday," he said.

The Democratic party's CEC will be meeting this Thursday to discuss the bill. The Republican Party of Guam is still reviewing the bill before making an official comment.