GEC thinks it could have enough for delegate runoff

The Guam Election Commission is gearing up for round 2 of Decision 2020, between the two top vote getters in the delegate race. Current Guam Del. Michael San Nicolas and former Congressman Robert Underwood will go head-to-head on Nov. 17 but  the GEC needs $365,000 for the runoff.


During Thursday's night's Guam Election Commission board meeting, Executive Director, Maria Pangelinan said due to a glitch in their financial system, they haven't been able to determine exactly how much money is left for the runoff election, however it's more than likely not enough. The GEC is currently working on the financial report that they anticipate to have completed for the next meeting on Sunday.
However, in the case that funds still come up short, Pangelinan says the GEC does have past government vendors to reach out to as well as prior year appropriations that they should have access to. She adds that it's still too early to tell whether the GEC will have to appeal to the legislature. One board member suggested utilizing the money intended for the primaries, but Pangelinan says they've already spent quite a bit from it. They will be working with the Department of Administration to find out how much of the expenses will be appropriately charged to CARES.


For the runoff election, in-office early voting if it was not the pandemic. If we didn't have the pandemic situation, we probably would not have in-office early voting. So all the expenses for in-office early voting will be appropriately charged to the CARES fund.

Pangelinan also confirms the ballot design has been approved by the board. Because the runoff election is a continuation of the general election, absentee and early voting will be carried out, and only voters registered in the 2020 general election will be eligible to vote at the runoff. In-office voting will begin Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m.- 4 p.m.


"November 16th, which is a Monday, on the last day we will close at 12 o'clock pm to make sure that we properly prepare the voter roster," Pangelinan said. 

Come Nov. 17 , voting will be conducted at the 22 polling sites throughout the island, just as the general election, and will be open from 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Pangelinan says they are expecting the voting process to be much shorter than the general election, and due to the sensitivity of the tabulators to blue ink, voters are now asked to use black pens only.

Pangelinan adds that if voters choose to go to the GEC office to call in so staff can prepare the documents to make the process smoother. For further information, you can contact the GEC office at 477-9791.