Guam residents who register to vote through a volunteer registrar get into the Guam Election Commission’s database faster than applicants using the agency’s online registration service, according to GEC Executive Director Maria Pangelinan. Prospective voters are advised when they click on the online registration link on GEC’s website that the application process requires about 12 minutes, giving the “illusion that the process is entirely automated,” according to Pangelinan. The process, however, is anything but. After applicants fill out the form, which requires them to input either their driver’s license or Guam ID information, the data is then printed onto a paper spreadsheet and sent to the Department of Motor Vehicles for validation.
“Then DMV sends us a copy of their records of the applicant’s data, after which they’re then entered into our registry,” Pangelinan explained. “On the other hand, when folks apply with a volunteer registrar, that data is submitted to us directly and they’re in.”
GEC started implementing the online voter registration system in 2016. Since then, more than 200 citizens have utilized this form of registration, according to a recent GEC Citizen Centric Report.
Full Article: GEC head: Streamline voter registration | Guam News | postguam.com.