By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

THE Underwood-Aguon team has hired a high-powered Washington, D.C. lawyer to present its petition to seek clarification from the U.S. Supreme Court on last November’s gubernatorial election.
The Underwood-Aguon team wants an opinion on the counting of overvotes, which the Guam Election Commission did not count in certifying the results of the gubernatorial race.
The lawyer chosen to represent the Underwood-Aguon team is Paul M. Smith, a partner in the Jenner & Block law firm’s Washington, D.C. office.
Smith has had an active Supreme Court practice for two decades, including oral arguments in 12 Supreme Court cases, three of which involved election cases.
“He was very interested in the case,” former Congressman Robert Underwood said during a press conference yesterday.
Although hiring a mainland firm is expensive, Underwood said the Underwood-Aguon team decided to proceed because it wants the rule on overvotes to be clarified once and for all.
The cost of hiring the mainland-based lawyer is being shouldered by Underwood and his former running mate Frank Aguon.
Underwood said his team is confident that the Supreme Court will pick up their case because the high court is always interested in questions that have to do with chief executives.
“There’s a pretty good chance that the Supreme Court will pick this up. But even if it doesn’t, at least we’ll know,” Underwood said.
For his part, Aguon said the Washington, D.C. lawyer will be consulting with some of the Guam lawyers that have helped the Underwood-Aguon team.
“This will affect not just the last gubernatorial election but future elections as well,” Aguon said.
After the Underwood-Aguon team files its petition, Aguon said the U.S. Supreme Court will have to decide whether to hear the case or not. If the high court decides to pick up the case, Aguon said it may take months before a decision is made.
“Make no mistake, this is an uphill climb. A lot of petitions are made to the Supreme Court and many of them are rejected outright. But we are doing this to have finality and closure on the overvotes issue. At least, every avenue has been taken,” Underwood said.
During the press conference, the first donation to the Underwood-Aguon team’s legal fund was also made by supporter Dianne M. Strong.