Guam, which has historically predicted election winner, picks Clinton
HAGÅTÑA, Guam — Hillary Clinton has overwhelmingly won the vote on the tiny U.S. island of Guam.
The territory, located west of the international date line, is 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time and bills itself as “Where America’s Day Begins.”
With 32,071 voters casting ballots, Democrat Clinton received 71.6% of the vote. Republican Donald Trump received 24.2%, and Socialist candidate Emidio Soltysik — the only third-party candidate on the ballot — received 4.2%.
Although all voters here are American citizens, their votes in the presidential race do not count because Guam has no representation in the Electoral College. Unlike U.S. citizens who live in foreign countries, Guam residents are not allowed to vote absentee from the states.
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While the result of the Guam election has no bearing on the national election, it may be an indicator of how the rest of the country will vote. Residents here have correctly chosen the winner of each presidential race since 1980, when the first straw poll for president was conducted.
Most recently:
• In 2012, President Obama received 72.4% in the straw poll vs. 26.5% for Republican Mitt Romney.
• In 2008, Obama won the island 57.3% to 34% for the GOP nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
• In 2004, incumbent President George W. Bush won 64% to 35.1% for Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic nominee.
The predictive ability of the island was upset in 1996 when an Election Day typhoon delayed voting. America already had selected Bill Clinton as president before islanders went to the polls.
Guam had almost 52,000 registered voters as of Nov. 1, according to the Guam Election Commission.
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Guam's presidential election history
Source: 2012 Election Comparative Analysis Report, page 39
