Counting machine glitches, ballot mix-up, long lines mark elections in provinces
Across the country, automated counting machine (ACM) glitches, mix-up of ballots, complaints on long lines, incidents of preshaded ballots marked the elections on Monday.
In Leyte, even Speaker Martin Romualdez, who was running unopposed for the first district seat in Leyte, had to make three attempts before the ACM accepted his ballot when he cast his vote at V&G Dela Cruz Memorial School in Tacloban City, past 1 p.m.
Similar ACM glitches were also reported in the Bicol Region, including in the precinct where former Vice President and Naga City mayoral candidate Leni Robredo was to vote. The ACM at the Naga City Science High School had to be restarted after repeated shutdowns but was fixed before Robredo arrived with daughter Jillian at 1:15 p.m.
“The scanners of some ACMs malfunctioned due to dirt accumulation from the large volume of ballots,” explained Ma. Corazon Montallana, assistant regional director of Comelec-Eastern Visayas. “This issue wasn’t observed during the final testing and sealing because only a few test ballots were used then,” she added.
Dust was also tagged as the reason for the failure of some ACM machines in Cebu to accept ballots, said Francisco Pobe, Comelec director in Central Visayas.
Preshaded ballots
But the more serious concerns emerged in Camarines Sur, where Maria Theresa Bonot, a voter in Calabanga town, discovered her ballot had been preshaded for specific candidates.
In Calapan City, 64-year-old Livia Paras Tolentino reported a discrepancy between her actual vote and the printed receipt, which showed a vote for Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go—whom she said she did not choose.
A similar incident occurred in Ligao City, Albay, where a voter claimed their receipt inaccurately reflected a vote for Sen. Bong Revilla Jr. instead of their selected candidate.
In Zamboanga del Sur, lawyer Domingo Redelosa IV, head of the legal team of gubernatorial aspirant Junaflor Cerilles, said they reported to Comelec incidents of information contained in printed vote receipts which did not reflect the choice of voters in the ballot, particularly the votes for governor, in six towns.
“After feeding the ballot, the voter verification paper audit trail is supposed to print the names of the candidates chosen by the voter in his or her ballot. But instead of the name Cerilles for governor, the name Yu appeared,” Redelosa said.
Cerilles is facing outgoing Rep. Divina Grace Yu in the gubernatorial race.
Lawyer Roxan Ortaleza-Tan, counsel of Cerilles ally reelectionist Mayor Samuel Co said they also documented 10 such incidents in various precincts in the provincial capital, Pagadian City.
Wrong delivery
Deliveries of wrong ballots were also reported, such as the 12 ballots meant for Cebu’s mainland town of Balamban ending up on Bantayan Island, also in Cebu; and the 42 ballots for Barangay Pardo in Cebu City delivered to Candijay town in Bohol.
“The ballots were sealed when they arrived here. There’s no way of knowing beforehand that these ballots were brought to places where they were not supposed to be,” explained Pobe.
Some 44 ballots in Mandaue City, Cebu, had no second pages. But Pobe assured there would be no shortage of ballots since the voters’ turnout was never 100 percent.
In Tanjay City, Negros Oriental, a voter in Sta. Cruz Elementary School had started shading the ballot when he noticed that the mayoral candidates were those of Bayawan City.
It turned out it was one of the 19 ballots intended for Bayawan City, Negros Oriental, that were brought to Tanjay.
Lawyer Lionel Marco Castillo, Comelec director for Negros Island Region, assured all voters in Tanjay were able to cast their votes, as they had extra ballots since, again, voters’ turnout never reached 100 percent.
In Cagayan Valley, reports of missing voter names and malfunctioning ACMs disrupted the voting process in multiple precincts in the region.
The absence of or fading of indelible ink was reported in Cauayan City, Isabela province, prompting fears of potential multiple voting. The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting confirmed receiving multiple reports of the ink issue.
In Baguio City, Pangasinan, Batanes and Palawan, some ACMs malfunctioned, experienced paper jams and rejected ballots due to scanner errors and foreign object alerts, delaying the voting process.
Central Luzon, meanwhile, encountered at least 32 ACM malfunctions early on Election Day, which were quickly replaced, said Police Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo, the regional police chief. —WITH REPORTS FROM NESTLE SEMILLA, JOEY A. GABIETA, KAYE BRIER, VILLAMOR VISAYA JR., NATHAN ALCANTARA, KIMBERLIE QUITASOL, YOLANDA SOTELO, JUN A. MALIG, TONETTE T. OREJAS, GREG REFRACCION, JOANNA ROSE AGLIBOT, CARMELA REYES-ESTROPE, MA. ADELAIDA CALAYAG, MICHAEL B. JAUCIAN, MADONNA T. VIROLA, MA. APRIL MIER-MANJARES, GERALDFORD TICKE, GEROMAE HOPE DE LA FUENTE, GRACE LUCILA AND LEAH D. AGONOY
