Title 3 — Elections

“Provisional ballot” is a ballot issued at the polling place on election day for any reason authorized by the Help America Vote Act, and other applicable federal or Guam laws granted to a person who otherwise would be denied an opportunity to vote on a regular ballot. SOURCE: Add…

Provisional ballots shall be visually distinguishable from regular ballots, and shall be designed so that they are unable to be tallied by precinct voting machine tabulators. (a) Voter Registration Application: Provisional ballot envelopes shall be designed so as to also serve as…

Any person who would otherwise be denied an opportunity to vote a regular ballot may vote a provisional ballot in accordance with the procedures set forth in § 14104, for any reason authorized by the Help America Vote Act, and other applicable federal and Guam laws, including, bu…

(a) Precinct Board Training. Precinct board members shall be trained to administer provisional voting in an accurate and consistent manner, and shall also be trained when to use provisional ballots, and when not to use them. Precinct officials shall also be able to communicate cl…

(a) Counting Provisional Ballots. Within fifteen (15) calendar days after any election, the Commission shall count the provisional voter’s choices for every race for which the voter was eligible to vote. When a provisional voter casts a provisional ballot in the incorrect precinc…

(a) Free Notification System. The Commission shall identify and implement, through an internet website, toll-free telephone number, or other means, a system whereby an individual who voted a provisional ballot may, free of charge, determine if his or her vote was counted, and, if…

The words and phrases in this Chapter shall, unless the same is inconsistent with the context, be construed as follows: (a) Commission means the Election Commission. (b) Election means a general election as distinguished from a primary election or a special election. (c) Election…

This Chapter shall be liberally construed in favor of the primary voter. SOURCE: GC § 2901. Added by P.L. 10-151 (June 24, 1970). Codified as 3 GCA § 16102. Repealed and reenacted to this section by P.L. 31- 255:2 (Dec. 11, 2012). 2012 NOTE: This section was originally codified f…

The laws relating to elections shall apply to a primary insofar as they are consistent with this Chapter, the intent of which is to place the primary under the regulation and protection of the election laws, as far as possible, consistently with this Chapter. SOURCE: GC § 2902. A…

A partisan candidate for office shall be nominated in accordance with this Chapter and not otherwise, except as otherwise provided by law. SOURCE: GC § 2903. Added by P.L. 10-151 (June 24, 1970). Codified as 3 GCA § 16104. Repealed and reenacted to this section by P.L. 31- 255:2 …

Not less than ninety (90) days before the holding of a primary, each party seeking ballot placement shall submit to the Commission a list of its officers and of its central committee. SOURCE: GC § 2904. Added by P.L. 10-151 (June 24, 1970). Codified as 3 GCA § 16105. Repealed and…

The cost of ballots, blanks and other supplies to be used at any primary, and other costs properly incurred in the preparation for or conducting of the primary, shall be borne by the government of Guam. SOURCE: GC § 2905. Added by P.L. 10-151 (June 24, 1970). Codified as 3 GCA § …

Officials. The Commission, at the expense of the government, shall provide the necessary polling places and ballot boxes for conducting an election for nomination of candidates for office. The Commission, at the expense of the government, shall pay election officials for their se…

In the event that fewer than fifteen (15) candidates are running for I Liheslaturan Guåhan within any party, the central committee of such party or parties shall not fill the party slate for the primary or general election to a full fifteen (15) nominees with its own nomination b…

No person shall be deemed nominated in a primary election unless the candidate receives votes at least three (3) times greater than the required number of signatures needed for a nomination petition for candidacy for such election, or votes equal to four percent (4%) of the total…

The primary shall be conducted at the polling place or places determined by the Election Commission in each district on the first Saturday of August in every even-numbered year. SOURCE: GC § 2910. Added by P.L. 10-151 (June 24, 1970). Amended by P.L. 12-119:1 (Apr. 3, 1974), P.L.…

(a) At least thirty (30) days before the date for holding the primary, the Commission shall prepare and transmit to each municipal mayor a notice, in writing, designating the office for which candidates are to be nominated at the primary, and state the time, date, and the place w…

(a) No candidate’s name shall be printed upon any official ballot to be used at any primary election unless a nomination paper shall have been filed on his or her behalf and in his or her legal name, as provided in this Chapter in substantially the following form: “NOMINATING PET…

(a) No person shall sign the nomination papers of more than one (1) candidate for the same office, nor for more than the actual number of offices of one (1) class. Nomination papers shall be construed in this regard according to priority of filing, and the name of any person appe…

(a) No person shall be certified as a candidate for nomination unless the following number of qualified electors shall have signed a petition in favor of the candidate: Office Required Number of Signatures Mayor 100 Vice Mayor 100 Senator 250 I Maga’låhen Guåhan and I Segundu Na …

Nomination papers shall be filed with the Commission at least ninety (90) days but not earlier than one hundred sixty (160) days prior to the day for holding the primary. There shall be deposited with each nomination a fee of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) on account of the expens…

Nomination papers may be filed on behalf of independent candidates. The papers shall be in the same form and signed in the same manner as in the case of party candidates. SOURCE: GC § 2916. Added by P.L. 10-151 (June 24, 1970). Codified as 3 GCA § 16207. Repealed and reenacted to…

(a) In case of the death, withdrawal or disqualification of a nominee for I Maga’låhen Guåhan after a primary, the candidate for I Segundu Na Maga’lahi on the same slate shall thereupon become candidate for I Maga’låhen Guåhan, who shall then select the nominee for I Segundu Na M…

Ballots used in the primary election shall be in the form prescribed by the Guam Election Commission and shall conform to the following minimum requirements: (a) (1) All candidates for all offices to be contested in the forthcoming general election shall appear on a primary ballo…

No person shall be entitled to vote at any primary unless he or she shall have registered as a duly qualified elector of Guam. SOURCE: GC § 2930. Added by P.L. 10-151 (June 24, 1970). Codified as 3 GCA § 16401. Repealed and reenacted to this section by P.L. 31- 255:2 (Dec. 11, 20…

Any person desiring to vote at a primary shall state his or her full name and address to the election officials, and shall present a validly issued photo identification card issued by a federal, state, Guam secondary school, Guam post-secondary school or Government of Guam entity…

Any person rightfully within the polling place may challenge the right of any other person requesting to vote. The challenge shall be on the grounds that the elector is not the person alleged to be, or that the elector is not entitled to vote on the grounds specified in § 9118, C…

I Maga’låhen Guåhan and I Segundu Na Maga’låhi; Other Offices; Primary Constituting Election to Office. (a) I Maga’låhen Guåhan and I Segundu Na Maga’låhi team receiving a plurality of votes cast for a partisan nomination shall be the party nominees for the general election. No I…

All questions as to validity of a ballot cast at any primary election held under this Chapter shall be decided upon immediately, and the opinion of the majority of the Commission shall be final and binding, subject to review by the Superior Court of Guam. SOURCE: GC § 2934. Added…

Any candidate directly interested, or any registered and qualified elector of any precinct, may file a petition in the Superior Court of Guam, setting forth any cause or causes why the decision of the Commission should be revised, corrected or changed. SOURCE: GC § 2935. Added by…

The petition shall be filed in the Superior Court of Guam within seven (7) days following the primary election proposed to be contested. SOURCE: GC § 2936. Added by P.L. 10-151 (June 24, 1970). Codified as 3 GCA § 16502. Repealed and reenacted to this section by P.L. 31- 255:2 (D…

The Clerk of the Superior Court shall issue a summon to the respondents named in the petition to appear before the Superior Court within five (5) days after thereof. SOURCE: GC § 2937. Added by P.L. 10-151 (June 24, 1970). Codified as 3 GCA § 16503. Repealed and reenacted to this…

(a) The Court shall hear the contest in a summary manner, and at the hearing, the Court shall cause the evidence to be reduced to writing, and shall, within eight (8) days following the return, give judgment, fully stating all findings of fact and of law. (b) The judgment shall d…

It is the intent of I Liheslaturan Guåhan that the people of Guam shall have the right to exercise the power of initiative and referendum with regard to legislative matters, and that I Liheslaturan Guåhan shall submit matters to the voters for approval or rejection. 07312013 SOUR…

As used in this Chapter: (a) Initiative is the power of the voters to propose statutes, and to adopt or reject them at the polls. (b) Referendum is the power of the voters to initiate action to repeal existing statutes or parts of statutes, except statutes calling for elections o…

I Liheslatura (the Legislature) may amend or repeal statutes enacted pursuant to legislative submission, but I Liheslatura (the Legislature) may not, within a period of two (2) years, amend or repeal a statute enacted pursuant to an initiative without voter approval, unless said …

Submission: Fees. (a) The proponents of any proposed initiative or referendum measure, prior to circulating any petition for signatures, shall submit a draft of the measure to the Election Commission with a request that it prepare a summary of the chief purposes and points of the…

The Election Commission shall provide a ballot title for each initiative, referendum or legislative submission to be submitted to the voters within ten (10) days after the measure is certified for a position on the ballot, and publish said title once a week for three (3) consecut…

Each measure shall be designated on the ballot by the ballot title prepared by the Election Commission. The ballot title given shall begin with the last two (2) digits of the election year, followed by the alphabet letter corresponding to the order in which it was submitted to th…

Initiative measures may be proposed by presenting petitions to the Election Commission, as set forth in this Chapter, with bona fide signatures of voters equal in number to ten percent (10%) of all registered voters as of the time the proposed initiative measure is submitted to t…

Initiative measures may only be proposed by a bona fide resident and registered voter of Guam who was registered during the preceding general election. The qualified proponent of any initiative may act individually or on behalf of an organization, partnership, corporation, commit…

The qualified proponent of the initiative and officers of the organization, partnership, corporation, committee, or business he or she represents, if applicable, must be identified. SOURCE: Added by P.L. 31-283:2 (Dec. 31, 2012).

Prior to circulation of the initiative for signature gathering, the proponent must host village meetings in at least ten (10) villages, to include the six (6) villages with the largest number of registered voters in the previous election. The meetings shall be documented with wri…

An initiative measure embracing unrelated subjects may not be submitted to the voters. SOURCE: GC § 2960.7. Added by P.L. 14-023 (May 3, 1977). Reenacted by P.L. 17-025:III:8 (Oct. 7, 1983). Codified as 3 GCA § 17202. Repealed and reenacted to this section by P.L. 31-255:2 (Dec. …

If an initiative measure is not approved by more than sixty percent (60%) of the voters in any election, no initiative measure proposing a 07312013 substantially similar or substantially related subject shall be submitted to voters for at least ten (10) years after the date of su…

The Guam Election Commission shall determine whether an initiative measure proposes a substantially similar or substantially related subject of a previously defeated measure prior to circulation of said measure. SOURCE: Added by P.L. 29-118:3 (Dec. 2, 2008) as 3 GCA § 17202.3. Re…

The Election Commission shall submit the initiative to the electors after certification at the next regularly scheduled biennial general election; provided, however, that I Liheslatura may call an island-wide special election for the purpose of having the electors vote on an init…

An initiative must be approved by fifty percent (50%) plus one (1) of all voters who go to the polls to vote in the special or biennial general election at which the initiative was placed on the ballot. Any initiative so approved by fifty percent (50%) plus one (1) of all voters …

If provisions of two (2) or more measures approved at the same election conflict, those provisions of the measure receiving the highest affirmative votes shall prevail. SOURCE: GC § 2960.10. Added by P.L. 14-023 (May 3, 1977). Reenacted by P.L. 17-025:III:8 (Oct. 7, 1983). Codifi…

Prior to the circulation of any proposed initiative measure, the proponents shall print upon each page of the petition in Roman bold face type not smaller than twelve (12)-point font size, “Initiative measure to be submitted directly to the voters.” Beneath that shall be printed …