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THE ballots for the general election are ready for all the precincts in the island’s 19 villages.

The election is scheduled for Nov. 6, which is just about two weeks away.

Guam Election Commission Executive Director Maria Pangelinan said they have printed close to 110,000 ballots. There are two sets of ballots registered voters will mark: partisan and non-partisan.

The partisan ballots contain the delegate for House of Representatives, senatorial candidates for the 32nd Guam Legislature, mayor/vice mayor candidates for 10 villages (Agaña Heights, Agat, Asan/Maina, Inarajan, Mangilao, Merizo, Piti, Yigo, Yoña and Umatac) and a straw poll for the U.S. presidential race.

The non-partisan ballot contains the Office of the Public Auditor, two judicial retentions (Presiding Judge Alberto Lamorena and Judge Art Barcinas), two seats for the Consolidated Commission on Utilities, six seats for the Guam Education Board (which is now islandwide and not by district), and Proposal A, or the For-Profit Bingo Initiative.

Pangelinan said the non-partisan ballots will be distributed islandwide, but the partisan ballots will be sent out due to the mayor/vice mayor races.

"We want to make sure we vote one for congressional, up to 15 for senator, and then one team for president and one each for mayor and vice mayor," she said.

Cross over

Unlike the primary, voters have the opportunity to cross over, but when they select their choice for senator, even if there are write-ins, voters will only be allowed to choose up to 15 people.

Pangelinan also disclosed that as of Oct. 8, there were 49,351 people registered to vote. But this number is expected to go up after the deadline to register ends on Oct. 26.

Starting today, residents who wish to vote in the general election can register at their respective mayors’ offices with the exception of those living in Hagåtña. The time to register is from 4 to 8 p.m. For those offices who have voter registrars, the time to register is from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

GEC also recently spent time at the Guam National Guard headquarters in Radio Barrigada and serviced the 600 soldiers scheduled for deployment. Of that number, 162 voted and some registered, she said.

Pangelinan said the ballots were already sent out for those who fall under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. There were also about 160 absentee ballots mailed out to residents living off-island. Pangelinan expects a 48-hour turnaround with regard to these ballots.

In-house voting at GEC averaged about 490 people as of yesterday. Also, some home-bound voting has already been completed. Pangelinan said they've serviced 50 residents so far. Those who wish to vote at home must follow certain criteria and download the homebound voting application from their website or call GEC at 477-9791 for more information.