Guam

Population Statistics

161,785

Total Population

24,268

Population with a disability

according to World Health Organization’s 15% estimate

Election Dates

Guam has not yet signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities


The Organic Act of Guam (1950, last amended 2004)

Updated: June 2015

Section 1422b states:

(a) Temporary disability or temporary absence of Governor. In case of the temporary disability or temporary absence of the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor shall have the powers of the Governor.

(b) Permanent vacancy in office of Governor. In case of a permanent vacancy in the office of Governor, arising by reason of the death, resignation, removal by recall, or permanent disability of a Governor-elect, or for any other reason, the Lieutenant Governor, or Lieutenant Governor-elect shall become the Governor, to hold office for the unexpired term and until he or his successor shall have been duly elected and qualified at the next regular election for Governor.

(c) Temporary disability or temporary absence of Lieutenant Governor. In case of the temporary disability or temporary absence of the Lieutenant Governor, or during any period when the Lieutenant Governor is acting as Governor, the Speaker of the Guam Legislature shall act as Lieutenant Governor.

(d) Permanent vacancy in office of Lieutenant Governor. In case of a permanent vacancy in the office of Lieu-tenant Governor, arising by reason of the death, resignation, or permanent disability of the Lieutenant Governor, or because the Lieutenant Governor or Lieu-tenant Governor- elect has succeeded to the office of Governor, the Governor shall appoint a new Lieutenant Governor, with the advice and consent of the legislature, to hold office for the unexpired term and until he or his successor shall have been duly elected and qualified at the next regular election for Lieutenant Governor.

(e) Temporary disability of temporary absence of both Governor and Lieutenant Governor. In case of the temporary disability or temporary absence of both the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor, the powers of the Governor shall be exercised, as Acting Governor, by such person as the laws of Guam may prescribe. In case of a permanent vacancy in the offices of both the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, the office of Governor shall be filled for the unexpired term in the manner prescribed by the laws of Guam…

 

Section 1424-3, part (b) states:

Appellate Division of the District Court; Judges; Procedures; Decisions. Appeals to the District Court of Guam shall be heard and deter-mined by an appellate division of the court consisting of three judges, of whom two shall constitute a quorum. The district judge shall be the presiding judge of the appellate division and shall preside therein unless disqualified or otherwise unable to act…

 

Section 1712, part (a) states:

…In case of a permanent vacancy in the office of Delegate, by reason of death, resignation, or permanent disability, the office of Delegate shall remain vacant until a successor shall have been elected and qualified.

 

Excerpts from the Organic Act of Guam (1950, last amended 2004)

Election Code of Guam

Updated: June 2015

Title 3, section 3101 states:

Every person not confined to a mental institution, nor judicially declared incompetent , nor incarcerated under a sentence of imprisonment, who is a citizen of the United States over eighteen (18) years of age, or who shall have reached his or her eighteenth (18th) birthday by the day set for election, who is a resident of Guam, as defined in § 9123, Chapter 9 of this Title, and who complies with the provisions of this Title governing the registration of electors is entitled to vote at any general election held within Guam; provided, that in the election of municipal, division or district officers only those otherwise qualified electors who reside within the municipality, division or district concerned shall have the right to vote for such municipal, division or district officers.

 

Title 3, section 3121 states:

The Commission shall cancel the registration of an elector in the following cases …

  • (b) when the mental incompetence of a person registered is legally Declared…

 

Title 3, section 3124 states:

Every judge before whom proceedings are held which result in any person being declared incapable of managing or taking care of either himself or herself, or property, or both, and for whom a guardian of his or her person, or estate, or both, is accordingly appointed, or which results in his or her being declared mentally incompetent or committed to a mental facility as an incompetent person, shall file with the Commission a certificate of that fact, and thereupon the Commission shall cancel the name of that person upon the register.

 

Title 3, section 4112 states:

If, during the progress of an election, the precinct leader ceases to act or becomes incapacitated, a member of the precinct board shall at once notify the Commission for action to appoint a new precinct leader.

 

Title 3, section 4113 states:

The precinct leader shall appoint substitute precinct clerks if, during the progress of an election, any clerk ceases to act or becomes incapacitated, and shall immediately inform the Commission which shall ratify the appointment or make another appointment.

 

Title 3, section 9136 states:

(a) A voter may request assistance in voting to the precinct board, and assistance shall be granted thereby only if a voter is blind, physically disabled, or unable to read or write.

(b) If a voter is granted assistance, the voter shall be accompanied into the voting booth by one (1) precinct official and another person designated by the voter. If a voter with a physical disability finds it unduly burdensome to enter the polling place, the ballot may be completed within one hundred (100) feet of the polling place. A precinct official shall read the ballot to the voter who shall indicate his or her choices. Such choices shall be properly marked by the attending precinct official while under the observation of the other person designated by the voter. Any registered voter who enters the public grounds containing the polling place, but for some reason is unable to enter the polling place itself, and who is capable of reading and marking the ballot without assistance, shall be given the opportunity to vote...

 

Title 3, section 13106 states:

The municipal offices of mayor and vice mayor become vacant on the happening of any of the following events:…

  • (b) declaration of mental incompetence by a final judgment or final order of a court of competent jurisdiction;…
  • (d) refusal or failure to assume office;
  • (e) the decision of a competent tribunal declaring void his or her election;
  • (f) conviction of a felony, or of a crime involving moral turpitude;
  • (g) his or her change of residence from the municipality in which he or she was elected; or
  • (h) when incumbent is incapacitated because of illness and unable to continue for the remainder of the term. The occurrence of any event under (a) through (h), with respect to a person elected to office, after the election but before the term of office is to commence, constitutes a vacancy on the date the term commences, unless the person so elected is the incumbent, in which case, the vacancy occurs on the date of such event.

 

Title 5, Section 40110 states:

(b) If by reason of death, resignation, removal from office, inability or failure to perform, there shall be a vacancy in the office of the Mayor, it shall be filled for the unexpired term. The vacancy shall be filled by I Maga’lahi (the Governor) by appointment after soliciting the non-binding recommendations of the Municipal Planning Council of the municipality in which the vacancy occurred, subject to the advice and consent of I Liheslatura (the Legislature); provided, however, that in a municipality where there is a Vice-Mayor, the Vice-Mayor shall automatically assume the position of Mayor and there shall be a vacancy in the position of Vice-Mayor.

(c) Temporary vacancy. If there is a temporary vacancy greater than thirty (30) days in the office of Mayor, caused by other than official business, and there is no Vice-Mayor, the vacancy shall be filled by the Governor by appointment after soliciting the non-binding recommendations of the Municipal Planning Council of the municipality.

 

Title 5, Section 40116 states:

The Vice Mayor shall assist the Mayor in the discharge of his duties as prescribed in § 40112 of this Chapter, and to perform other related duties as may be assigned by the Mayor. In the event of the absence of the Mayor from the Territory or his incapacity due to illness or injury, the Vice Mayor shall serve as Acting Mayor for the duration.

 

Title 5, Section 40127 states:

In case of a vacancy on the Municipal Planning Council by reason of death, resignation or incapacity, said vacancy shall be filled by appointment of the Mayor.

 

Title 6, Section 1102 states:

The Commission shall determine the qualifications of all precinct officials by checking through the voting register of the precinct in which a member is to be appointed. An official who cannot read or write the English language shall declare himself ineligible. Any nominee for an elective office is automatically disqualified and the Commission shall appoint any person to take the place of the person being disqualified after Paragraphs (a) and (b) have been determined.

 

Title 6, Section 1110 states:

Any incapacitation of any member of the precinct board resulting in their leaving the polls must be reported by the Inspector to the Commission. The Inspector shall appoint substitute judges or clerks as the case may be and report his appointment which must be ratified by the Commission or in the event the Commission should reject the appointment it shall make another appointment.

 

Title 6, Section 1111 states:

If the Inspector is incapacitated during the progress of the election, any of the two (2) judges or in their absence, the clerks shall at once notify the Commission who shall make another appointment immediately. Usually one judge will be appointed as the inspector and another judge will be appointed.

 

Title 6, Section 1112 states:

The following oath must be taken by all members of the precinct board before an officer qualified to administer oaths: "I do solemnly swear that I am a voter of the district of ________ that I can read and write the English language, that I am not holding or am a nominee for an elective office, that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Laws of the Territory of Guam, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of _______on the Precinct Board for Precinct # _______ in the Municipality of ________ to the best of my ability." If for any reason, any member fails or refuses to take the Oath of Office then the Commission shall appoint a substitute and require the new member to take the Oath of Office a copy of which must be filed with the Election Commission.

 

Title 6, Section 1230, part (6) states:

If the voter is unable to read or write, the precinct official in charge of the roster, shall enter the name and address of the voter and initial his name next to it.

 

Title 6, Section 1239 states:

At least two (2) members of the precinct board shall be available to assist any voter who cannot read or write or if physically unable to mark the ballot. The ballot must be marked only at the explicit direction of the voter. Such marking is to take place in the voting booth, and the assisting officials shall not reveal the person's vote at any time to any other person.

 

Excerpts from the Constitution of Kiribati (1979, last amended 1995)