HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Four more non-incumbents filed their senatorial candidacy on Monday, while private citizen Ken Leon-Guerrero’s filing of six initiative measures hit a minor snag after he learned that the Guam Election Commission does not have a credit card machine to accept his $1,200 filing payment.
Each voter initiative filing costs $200.
“It’s a minor technical delay,” Leon-Guerrero said, adding that he will try to file the initiative measures again Tuesday, noting that GEC accepts “cash or check only.”
These voter initiative measures include having a part-time Legislature, raising the number of senators from 15 to 21, and scrapping primary elections.
They also include allowing citizens to sue the government of Guam officials and employees for violating laws, rules and policies that cause financial harm to taxpayers, having an elected public prosecutor, and empowering the Office of Public Accountability to prosecute cases of government fraud.
An initiative process allows citizens to propose a new law and to adopt or reject it through a vote.
“If we ask people to vote for these measures in the coming elections and get them passed, then the politicians will have to listen to us. And when they listen to us, we take our power back. We take our power back as citizens and as voters and we force the politicians to listen to real-world concerns that we have, things that are affecting our family, our children and our grandchildren,” Leon-Guerrero told the media outside the GEC office in Tamuning Monday.
Leon-Guerrero is also running for senator under the Republican Party.
GEC Executive Director Maria Pangelinan confirmed that the agency does not have a credit card machine and accepts cash or checks only.
The filing is just the first step of the voter initiative process. After the initiative measures are filed, then GEC has to review whether each measure contains unrelated subjects or not, along with the required registration of the organization and financial disclosures of all the members of the organization.
GEC commissioners also would have to approve the summary and title of the initiative measures, before the initiators can start gathering signatures to place the measures on the ballot.
Each of the proposed initiatives should have at least 5,221 signatures or 10% of the 52,209 voters registered as of May 31.
4 more senatorial candidates
Four more filed their senatorial candidacy on Monday, so far bringing to 11 the total number of Republican bets compared to eight Democrats.
Democrat Franklin J. Meno filed his candidacy, along with Republicans Bistra Mendiola, David W. Crisostomo and Vincent Borja.
So far, there are 23 candidates for different offices, a week before the June 28 candidacy filing deadline for the primary election. The gubernatorial candidates are set to file their official candidacy this week.
Candidates for senator as of June 20
Former chief of police Fred Bordallo Jr., Democrat
Vincent Borja, Republican
David W. Crisostomo, Republican
Sen. Chris M. Duenas, Republican, incumbent
Harvey Egna, Republican
Attorney Thomas J. Fisher, Republican
Joaquin “Kin” Leon-Guerrero, Republican
Sen. Sabina E. Perez, Democrat, incumbent
Former Sen. Shirley “Sam” Mabini Young, Republican
Bistra Mendiola, Republican
Franklin J. Meno, Democrat
Vice Speaker Tina Rose Muña Barnes, Democrat, incumbent
Dwayne T. San Nicolas, Democrat
Jonathan Savares, Democrat
Sen. Joe San Agustin, Democrat, incumbent
Sandra R. Seau, Republican
Former Sen. Maryann “Mana” Silva Taijeron, Republican
Sen. Telo Taitague, Republican, incumbent
Jose “Pedo” Terlaje, Democrat, incumbent
Candidates for delegate
Sen. James “Jim” Moylan, Republican
Sen. Telena Cruz Nelson, Democrat
Former Speaker Judi Won Pat, Democrat
Candidate for attorney general
Attorney General Leevin T. Camacho, incumbent
Ken Leon-Guerrero shows paperwork for voter initiatives he intends to file with the Guam Election Commission in Tamuning.
