2018 ELECTION Election Comparative Analysis Report
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2018 ELECTION & SPECIAL ELECTION FOR PUBLIC AUDITOR Election Comparative Analysis Report Guam Election Commission Suite 200, GCIC Building 414 West Soledad Avenue Hagåtña, GU 96910 Voice: 671.477.9791 ◊ Facsimile: 671.477.1895 Email: [email protected] ◊ Website: www.gec.guam.gov June 26, 2019 GUAM ELECTION COMMISSION MICHAEL J. PEREZ Chairman Republican ALICE M. TAIJERON G. PATRICK CIVILLE, Esq Vice-Chairperson Member Democrat Independent GERARD C. CRISOSTOMO ANTONIA R. GUMATAOTAO Member Member Republican Republican JOSEPH P. MAFNAS JOAQUIN P. PEREZ Member Member Democrat Democrat VINCE C. CAMACHO, Esq. Legal Counsel MARIA I.D. PANGELINAN Executive Director COMMISSION STAFF HELEN M. ATALIG BRITTNEY L. CABRERA Program Coordinator Election Clerk BENITA ROSE CORPUS ANNIE T. CRUZ Administrative Aide Election Clerk GENE T.G. DUENAS MICHAEL A. EDQUILANE Election Clerk Administrative Assistant TANYA M. FRANQUEZ PACIANO F.N. GUMATAOTAO Administrative Assistant Program Coordinator JOSEPH P. ISEKE GEORGE L.G. LUJAN Program Coordinator Systems and Programming Administrator CHRISTIANA J. RAMIREZ TAMMY Z. RAMIREZ Program Coordinator Election Clerk THOMAS H. SAN AGUSTIN ALBERT D. SANGA JR. Program Coordinator Program Coordinator ELIZABETH B. SANTOS SPENCER D. TORRES Program Coordinator Election Clerk MARIA I.D. PANGELINAN June 27, 2019 Executive Director Guam Election Commission Aprill 2011 - Present Buenas yan Håfa Adai! Pursuant to 3 GCA § 2103(d)(2), the Guam Election Commission is pleased to present the twenty-third (23rd) edition of the Election Comparative Analysis Report for 2018. The twenty-third (23rd) edition provides statistical data for the 2018 Primary, Special, and General Elections, as well as historical data form preceding elections. The Primary Election was conducted on Saturday, August 25, 2018 to determine the partisan and non-partisan candidates who would advance to the General Election in the Gubernatorial, Legislative, Congressional, and Attorney General races. Conducted concurrent to the Primary Election was a Special Election to fill the vacancy in the Office of the Public Auditor. On Tuesday, November 8, 2018, the General Election was conducted to determine the partisan and non-partisan candidates who would be elected to serve in official capacities as Maga’låhi yan I Segundo Na Maga’låhen Guåhan (Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Guam), Senators of I Mina’trentai Singko Na Liheslaturan Guåhan (35th Guam Legislature), Guam’s Non-Voting Delegate to the 116th U.S. House of Representatives, Attorney General of Guam, Members of the Guam Education Board, and Commissioners to the Consolidated Commission on Utilities. The General Election ballot also included two (2) Judicial Retention Questions. The GEC continues to work toward improving its processes and resources, making every effort to uphold the integrity of the electoral process both now and in future elections. I would like to thank the Government of Guam agencies who provided services and resources necessary to conduct the 2018 Primary, Special, and General Elections. The collaboration between the GEC, Department of Public Works, Guam Department of Education , Guam Police Department, Mayors Council of Guam, and University of Guam greatly contributed to the success of the 2018 election cycle. Lastly, I commend GEC Commissioners and staff for their hard work and dedication in the months leading up to, throughout, and after the 2018 elections. The GEC is certain that this publication will provide you with valuable information concerning Guam’s 2018 elections. Sinseramente, MARIA I.D. PANGELINAN Executive Director The Guam Election Commission in coordination with its staff, Executive Director, and 7 Board members worked to serve the people of Guam and complete the 2018 Primary, Special, and General Election. In the months preceding the 2018 Primary Election the former Public Auditor resigned leaving a vacancy and triggering a Special Election. The timing of the vacancy facilitated the option for the Commission Board to hold the mandated Special Election along with the 2018 Primary Election to maximize resources and minimize cost. Along with the confusion about who was eligible to run, the former Deputy Public Auditor Yukari Hechanova expressed interest, but was given incorrect information from the Civil Service Commission. She eventually was able to file for candidacy even though the deadline had passed after a review and discussion by the Commission’s Board. The preparation for these elections became paramount as the number of ballots would increase by a third affecting ballot stocks, Precinct Official training, and tabulation. Precinct Officials felt the brunt of difficulties at their locations having to count and maintain ballots throughout Election day and at Election Headquarters as they attempted to reconcile three different counts. Election Headquarters felt the delays compounded as staff worked to tabulate all three types of ballots. It was not long after the unofficial results were made public that certain gubernatorial teams protested and demanded a full recount. Their request was granted by the Board and the recount was held at Guam Election Commission offices at GCIC building witnessed by media and party members. The results were then reconfirmed and approved by the Commission Board. The 2018 Primary Election results were highly contested by competing gubernatorial campaigns and thus ushered the start of comprehensive write-in campaign by one of the disqualified teams. The Commission Board encountered issues immediately dealing with the legality of a write-in campaign on the continuation of campaigning activities and the reporting of financial activities. Among those issues were the questions regarding the layout of the ballot and how names would need to appear in order to be counted toward the campaign. The Commission was limited on both time and resources regarding ballot printing that made adding a third independent column unfeasible so the standard two party/two column layout was retained. Any areas of ambiguity in the law regarding write-in or independent campaigns were specially highlighted in this election cycle. The Commission Board and legal counsel reviewed any and all precedence to make determinations following the intent of Guam election code. The Election Commission continued to prepare for the 2018 General Election through hosting various trainings and the continued push for registrations. Throughout 2018 there was a sustained and diligent effort to promote registrations not only through the political parties, but independently by media and local institutions such as the University of Guam, public, and private high schools. The numbers steadily grew as the 2018 General Election neared and finally capped off at 55, 941 registered voters for the 19 districts throughout Guam. It was less than two weeks before the anticipated 2018 General Election Super Typhoon Yutu made direct landfall in the CNMI and overhead of Guam. The devastation experienced immediately triggered emergency services be deployed to provide aid to the CNMI. Large segments of the local population such as the Guam Army National Guard and other emergency service agencies traveled over with no guarantee of returning before Guam’s 2018 General Election. The Commission with little time to act proceeded to inform citizens and arrange absentee voting for any and all voters to exercise their lawful right. Moreover, the Commission Board facilitated staff members and the Independent Board Member P. Civille to travel to Saipan and conduct Absentee voting to those individuals who were called to duty suddenly. Voters who otherwise would have been disenfranchised were able to vote because of the effort and flexibility of the Commission as a whole. In addition, due to the damages inflicted by Super Typhoon Yutu, the CNMI government postponed their General Election from November 6, 2018 to November 13, 2018 in order to focus on the islands’ recovery and redesign election plans to accommodate the islands’ infrastructure. The Guam Election Commission decided to provide assistance to our neighboring islands to ensure the success of their election. On November 10, 2018 the GEC sent two commission staff to assist the CNMI election commission with the preparation and execution of their 2018 General Election. Along with staff the Election Commission immediately sent one of its M650 tabulating machines to assist with the tabulation. Typhoon Yutu presented challenges that had never been dealt with before and the Commission staff expertly showcased their level of skill and competence. November 6, 2018 the General election was underway and with collaboration from the various public high schools and their respective JROTC programs had numerous student volunteers who aided with traffic, directed voters to polling rooms, and alerted officials to curbside voters. Their service undoubtedly made Election day easier on voters and Precinct officials alike. 2018 General Election day at the precincts went on with few issues and unlike the 2018 Primary the Precinct Officials faced fewer dilemmas with ballot counts. Upon their arrival at Election Headquarters many precincts reconciled efficiently and without discrepancies. The Commission Board previously decided to sort for write-in votes at the same time the tabulators scanned and counted all ballots. This decision greatly affected the amount of time it took to tabulate as the machine halted at every write-in ballot and then needed to be manually separated