Malfunctioning VCMs? No choice but to leave ballots to electoral boards, says Comelec exec

Poll Commissioner George Garcia on Monday said voters have "no choice" but to leave their ballots to the members of the Electoral Board if the vote-counting machines (VCMs) in their precincts are malfunctioning.

"Sa ating general instructions, habang kinukumpuni, ginagawa ng ating technician ang mga vote counting machine na nasira ay dapat po lahat ng balota ay kukuhanin sa mga botante at papatas-patasin po yan at pagka natapos na ang pag-ayos ay tsaka po siya ifi-feed sa lahat ng watcher at lahat ng observers na nandoon sa loob ng presinto," Garcia said when asked about reports of malfunctioning VCMs on Election Day.

Comelec Comm George Garcia says more than 1,800 VCMs have malfunctioned.
“Common issues (but resolved)
Paper Jam-940
Rejected ballots- 606
Vcm scanner- 158
Vcm printer not printing- 87
Not printing properly- 76”@gmanews #Eleksyon2022

— Tina PanganibanPerez (@tinapperez) May 9, 2022

A tweet by GMA News' Tina Panganiban-Perez, citing Garcia, said more than 1,800 VCMs have malfunctioned, broken down into:

• Paper jam - 940
• Rejected ballots - 606
• VCM scanner - 158
• VCM printer not printing - 87
• Not printing properly - 76

He said all these issues were "resolved."

In a text message to reporters, Garcia said there are 51 VCMs that are "defective and 102 SD cards that are for replacement."

"As of 11am, 51 VCM defective 102 SD cards replacement.. 896 calls in level 1 for VCM issues but not confirmed defective," he said.

If the VCMs cannot be repaired by the technicians deployed in the precincts, a replacement will be recommended, Garcia added.

But if there are no replacements available, the Comelec will bring the broken VCMs to their repair hubs

"So in the meantime alangan naman po na habang ang machine ay nasa repair hubs, yung balota ay hawak-hawak ng mga botante. Hindi naman po puwedeng ganon. So kailangan iwanan ng mga botante 'yan sa kanilang lamesa ng ating mga guro, siyempre nandiyan po ang mga watchers," Garcia said.

"No choice po tayo doon. Ang importante nakaboto ang mga kababayan natin at ang mga mismong balota ay nakapatas po dyan ima-mass feed po yan. 'Yan po ang isang pagkakataon na ang resibo ay hindi po maibibigay sa mga botante natin," he added.

The Comelec official explained that they have no choice but to maintain the 10 persons per precinct limit and the voters who are already done shading their ballots should leave the polling place even if their ballots were not yet fed into the VCMs.

"Talaga pong kasama ito sa protocol na  no choice po tayo kung hindi pagpatas-patasin. Pag naayos na ang mga makina tsaka po uli ipapasok," he added.

Garcia assured the voters that the mass feeding of ballots will be observed by poll watchers from different parties and different citizens' arms. 

Up to the voters

In a separate interview, Izah Katrina Reyes, policy consultant of Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE), said it is up to the voters to wait for the machine to function again or leave it to the Electoral Board.

“Sa broken or malfunctioning VCM naman po nasa choice ito ng ating mga botante. Puwede po sila mag-intay sa ating presinto at sila po ang mag-feed ng kanilang ballots,” Reyes said.

“Ngayon, kung hindi na po sila makapag-intay ibibigay po ito sa Electoral Board natin at ipapasok ito sa isang envelope, and then later po tiyaka po ito iba-batch feed ng ating Electoral Board,” she added.    

'Unacceptable'

Meanwhile, election watchdog Kontra Daya said Garcia's statement was "unacceptable," adding that voters should not be deprived of their right to check if their votes are counted.

"Garcia's statement that voters have no choice but to leave their ballots in cases of VCM breakdown is unacceptable," Kontra Daya said in a statement posted on Facebook.

"Voters should have an option to wait. Those affected should not be deprived of the right to check that their votes are counted." —KBK, GMA News