It may be back to the drawing board for the Guam Legislature and the Guam Election Commission, as Governor Eddie Calvo says he plans to veto Bill 413. Lawmakers had previously passed the Election Reform Bill 8-6, straight down party lines. In an interview with KUAM News today, the island’s chief executive said the 2010 election is over and implied the bill was orchestrated by his former Democratic opponent , former governor Carl Gutierrez. Gutierrez ran with former Senator Frank Aguon, Jr. The two filed a lawsuit challenging the results and Guam Election Commission’s handling of the election process claiming it was rife with discrepancies.
Calvo believes the bill is more about politics than progress. Among the 50 amendments included in Bill 413, one that mandates an audit of the 2010 election/ “It’s an election year now, it’s partisan politics. It’s unfortunate you can call it whatever you want. We’ve talked to our lawyers there’s a definite impact if this legislation were to pass, it’s dangerous, but the bottom line it is this type of mischief that has been indicative of the Gutierrez camp since the last election and this is just a continuation I hope he can just focus in whether he wants to be a delegate or a governor,” he said.
Majority Leader Rory Respicio has been pushing for the audit of the 2010 election, saying it was just too close to ignore and defends the discrepancies need to be addressed in order to reform Guam’s election process. “I’m certainly one that says you always have to move forward…and maybe if the reverse were true, governor Calvo would be the one pushing to have these audits of the 2010 election. But notwithstanding who’s behind this desire to want to make sure that we have real and fair elections or this desire to want to audit the 2010 election, I think the people deserve to know the truth,” she said.
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