Voting In Guam
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Voting rights of citizens in Guam differ from those of United States citizens in each of the fifty states and in Washington, D.C. In the U.S. House of Representatives,
Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...
is entitled to a delegate, who is not allowed to vote on the floor of the House but can vote on procedural matters and in House committees. Citizens of Guam may not vote in general elections for president. The
United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...
grants congressional voting representation to the states and Washington, D.C., of which Guam is not one. Guam is a federal territory ultimately under the complete authority of Congress. The lack of voting representation in Congress for residents of Guam has been an issue since the foundation of the federal district. The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) is a United States federal law dealing with elections and voting rights for United States citizens residing overseas. The act requires that all U.S. states, the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
, Guam,
American Samoa American Samoa is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United States located in the Polynesia region of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. Centered on , it is southeast of the island count ...
, and the U.S. Virgin Islands allow certain U.S. citizens to register to vote and to vote by absentee ballot in federal elections. The act is Public Law 99-410 and was signed into law by President
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
on August 28, 1986.


U.S. citizenship

Guam is an unincorporated United States territory. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 expanded the definition of the "United States" for nationality purposes to include Guam, therefore those born on Guam are "U.S. itizensat birth on the same terms as persons born in other parts of the United States." If a U.S. citizen born on Guam were to move to a
state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...
or the
District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
, they would be able to participate in presidential, and other elections that most other U.S. citizens can participate in.


History

On August 1, 1950, President Truman signed into law the Guam Organic Act of 1950, which gave the
Chamorro people The Chamorro people (; also Chamoru) are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, Indigenous people of the Mariana Islands, politically divided between the Territories of the United States, United States territory of Guam and the encompassing Norther ...
certain rights and protections under the U.S. Constitution. The people of Guam were afforded the opportunity to set and administer policy and laws for the island of Guam. In the 1980s and early 1990s, there was a significant movement in favor of the territory becoming a commonwealth, which would give it a level of self-government similar to Puerto Rico and the
Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territory and Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States consistin ...
. However, the federal government rejected the version of a commonwealth that the government of Guam proposed, due to it having clauses incompatible with the Territorial Clause (Art. IV, Sec. 3, cl. 2) of the U.S. Constitution. Other movements are also in existence that advocate becoming a U.S. state, union with the state of Hawaii, union with the Northern Mariana Islands as a single territory, or independence.


Guam's government

Guam is governed by a popularly elected governor and a
unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...
15-member legislature, whose members are known as senators. Guam elects one non-voting delegate, currently James Moylan, to the United States House of Representatives. U.S. citizens in Guam vote in a presidential straw poll for their choice in the U.S. Presidential general election, but since Guam has no votes in the Electoral College, the poll has no real effect. However, in sending delegates to the Republican and Democratic national conventions, Guam does have influence in the national presidential race, though these convention delegates are elected by local party conventions rather than voters in primaries.


Opposition

Activists, such as Siobhon McManus, have been outspoken about the fact that citizens of Guam do not have full voting rights in United States elections.


References

{{Voting rights in the United States , state=expanded
Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...
Politics of Guam