Comelec reminds voters to fully shade the ovals

Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesperson James Jimenez reminded the voters to shade 100 percent the ovals in the ballot when they cast their vote for the May 2019 polls.

The Comelec official made the call ahead of the mock polls that the poll body will conduct on  Saturday, January 19,  to test if the Vote Counting Machines are working.

“We still recommend a 100 percent shading to prevent disenfranchising of voters,” Jimenez said.

The Comelec had set a 25 percent voting threshold for the VCM in the 2016 polls, which meant that the machines will count the votes cast in the ballot as long as 25 percent of the oval located beside the preferred candidate’s name was shaded.

The importance of the shading threshold was highlighted when the camp of former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. asked the Supreme Court, sitting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), to use a 50 percent threshold in the ongoing manual recount of votes in three provinces, which stemmed from an electoral protest he field against Vice President Leni Robredo.

Robredo beat Marcos by 263,473 votes in the 2016 polls.

Robredo opposed Marcos’ motion to set a higher percentage of shading threshold and pushed for a 25 percent shading ceiling since the VCM used a 25 percent threshold in counting the votes in the 2016 elections.

The PET eventually ruled in favor of Robredo in a September 2018 decision. 

Unnecessary marks

Aside from the call to fully shade the ovals, Jimenez also reminded the public not to tamper the ballot by writing unnecessary marks, especially on their edges.

“Huwag po natin sulatan ang balota kasi ire-reject po iyan ng machine kung may mga marka sa gilid," Jimenez said.

Likewise, Jimenez said that in the event that a voter receives a tampered ballot which had unnecessary marks or pre-shaded from an election board official stationed at the precinct, the voter should immediately return such tampered ballot and have it replaced.

“Yung mga batikos noong nakaraang eleksiyon, na may mga pre-shaded raw na balota, kalokohan ‘yun dahil hindi dapat tanggapin ng botante ang balota kung may marka na ito ng kahit ano,” Jimenez added.

The 2019 midterm polls is set on May 13.

The campaign period for senatorial candidates begins on February 12 and ends on May 11, while the campaign period for those running for local positions is scheduled from March 30 to May 11. —LDF, GMA News