A MEMBER of the Guam Election Commission board told yesterday he miscounted the number of new complaints filed by seven when the same number of copies was inadvertently counted as new ones.
Subcommittee on Complaints Chairman Robert Cruz told the board during their reconvened meeting that only one new complaint was filed, not eight, as he reported earlier.
The rest of the seven other documents were really copies of the original new complaint.
Cruzs disclosure comes in the heels of public criticisms from the losing gubernatorial team on how the Nov. 2 general elections may have been mishandled.
Cruz apologized for the misinformation.
With regards to the certificates, Cruzs concern was not being able to sign off on the certificates following the 2008 elections and also for this year.
Cruz said the board policy of having the majority or four of the seven commissioners sign the certificates be changed to unanimous.
œI reckon that needs to be incorporated into our rules if not our policy, he said.
He made a motion for the certificates to become an administrable function and that once the candidates are certified in a general election; all seven board members have the right sign the certificates.
The only one who voted against it was member Joshua Tenorio.
Tenorio was opposed to signing the certificates pending final review of the complaints, especially, the 100 unaccounted ballots from the 3,721 off-island and early voters.
Meanwhile, Cesar Cabot, GEC legal counsel was questioned to provide his opinion on the matter of the certificates.
Cabot said that the action of the board was made on Nov. 6 when they certified the winners of the general election.
With regard to the certificate of election, he described it as a paper, or evidence of an elected persons right to hold office.
œIt is a declaration that the person has won the election. Its evidence, he said. œThe issuance of the certificate is indeed administrable in nature and there is case law that says we cannot deny an issuance of certificate of election if we have declared the results of the election. Now these cases are not Guam cases, but they might be persuasive in Guam court.
During the discussion of the complaints, the board went over one particular incident wherein the complainant claimed prior to election day, he heard someone had offered $50 to a couple of young men to vote for a particular gubernatorial team.
The name of the team was not told in the meeting.
Cruz said that while the complainant didnt see the actual transaction take place, he questioned that if anyone is aware of this situation to come forward.
Other issues brought up included a man who brought his 10-year-ancient daughter to vote at one of the precincts.
But a board member said the man was being very vocal and intimidating so the precinct officials chose to call the commission for advice.
The man finished up receiving a provisional ballot and the daughter was allowed to mark off the ballot.
Both federal and local laws mandate that a voter must be 18-year-ancient, a U.S. citizen and must have registered with GEC.
If the person is not in compliance, they will be turned away or face federal and local fines.
The board chose to inform the voter the situation and the repercussions of his actions.
The rest of the complaints were tabled until Dec. 10 at 4 p.m. and the board went into executive session to talk about the two lawsuits filed in both the federal and local courts.
Prior to going into executive session, board members went ahead and signed off on the certificates for the winners.
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Halo Sobat, Nama Saya Sofyan Syah, Memulai Dunia Blogging Sejak Nov 2011, Meskipun Masih Baru terjun di Dunia Blogging, Saya tidak patah semangat Untuk menjadi Yang terbaik dari yang Terbaik, karena saya yakin, Tidak ada hal yang tidak Mungkin.Buat saya Blogging Is My Life.Senang rasanya jika sobat sudah Berkunjung di blog ini.
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