Officials from the Guam Election Commission appeared before Senators this afternoon to present their Fiscal Year 2019 proposal. The GEC is asking for a total of $1,898,292 for next year's budget.

Which will help to cover expenses for the 2018 General Election in November. And supplement the agency's operations, salaries, and other election costs as outlined in GCA Title 3.

Executive Director Maria Pangelinan also noted the $600,000 federal grant awarded to the GEC by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. "The Guam Election Commission is in the process of accepting the award. The $600,000 can be spent within 5 years. It can only be spent to update and upgrade processes. The GEC cannot use it to buy ballots for the regular election, so we cannot use it for the regular operations of the GEC," she said.

This includes overtime, which is especially accumulated between elections. Senator Mary Torres mentioned her previous Bill 82-34 that would move up the Primary Election date by three weeks, but was ultimately vetoed by the Governor.

"The GEC thanks you for your efforts. The Guam Primary Election is one of the latest throughout all fifty states and the four jurisdictions. Our primary is one of the latest. That is a great measure to save money, it will decrease over time," she added.

Another, more immediate solution was to cancel the Primary Election for offices with only two or less candidates.