Guam: Bordallo, party differ on election investigation | Pacific Daily News

Guam Delegate Madeleine Bordallo said she will consider a request that she ask federal authorities about the status of an election irregularities complaint. Bordallo yesterday released her statement after Democratic Majority Leader Rory Respicio announced that Bordallo responded “positively to the party’s request for a congressional investigation.” The Democratic Party complaint stems from former Gov. Carl Gutierrez’s loss to Republican Gov. Eddie Calvo in the 2010 General Election. Respicio’s statement described Bordallo as having committed to a congressional investigation “into the allegations of voter fraud and electioneering in the Guam Election Commission’s own findings of illegalities and irregularities surrounding the 2010 election.”

Guam: Members of Election Commission, senators gather for hearing on election reform bill | Pacific Daily News

A day before Democrat senators hope to override the governor’s veto of Bill 413, which would rewrite Guam’s election laws, a hearing was held on election reform. Gov. Eddie Calvo vetoed the election reform bill. The Democratic leadership in the Guam Legislature pushed for the election reform legislation, and added a provision to audit the ballots from the 2010 gubernatorial race.

Guam: Rodriguez wants election reform meeting | KUAM.com-KUAM News: On Air. Online. On Demand.

With five months until the primary election, no consensus has been made regarding legislation to reform the island’s election process. However, the Committee on Election Reform has called a special meeting with hopes to discuss the importance of reforming the island’s election laws and how to move forward from the veto of Bill 413. KUAM News asked Senator Dennis Rodriguez Jr. if every time there’s an election in the future and allegations and irregularities arose, would we change the law, conduct an audit do a recount of the votes. He replied, “Yes, it should be, I think so. I think if there’s a valid complaint, if there’s valid reasons to go back and do an audit or do a recount I think that needs to be done and I think it’s been done in the past.” The chairman for the committee says although there’s an attempt to conduct an override on the vetoed Bill 413, he’s calling for a special meeting to see what needs to be done to further ensure our future elections are carried out “where its transparent and where people are not disenfranchised”. He added, “We have an election in five months and so a lot of the provisions in Bill 413 are good provisions that will facilitate the Guam Election Commission and how they carry out the election, so we need to address that. We just need to move forward and move pass this impasse.”

Guam: Governor Vetoes Election Reform Bill; Democrats May Try Override | Pacific News Center

As promised, Governor Eddie Calvo has vetoed election reform bill 413. The governor cited provisions in the bill that call for a recount of the 2010 election as his reason for vetoing it saying that these provisions are a continuation of “mischief” caused by the Guttierez camp during the election. Meanwhile the Democratic Party’s Executive Director Carlo Branch called it ironic that the governor would veto the measure on a day he himself has deemed as transparency day.  Governor Eddie Calvo vetoed the election reform bill or bill 413 last Tuesday but the legislature has yet to receive an official veto transmittal. The governor says that he vetoed the bill because of the provisions that call for an audit of all absentee and provisional ballots cast something he says amounts to an attempted recount of an election that has already been certified.

Guam: Governor plans veto of Election Reform Bill | KUAM.com

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.