Pre-shaded Ballots Found in Basilan Town Delay Bangsamoro Elections

MANILA, Philippines – Voting in the historic Bangsamoro parliamentary polls was delayed in many voting precincts in Maluso town in Basilan province after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) determined the integrity of ballots were compromised due to pre-shading. The incident prompted the Comelec to place Maluso town under its control on Monday, September 14. The poll body found the pre-shaded ballots in 36 out of 84 voting precincts. The 36 voting precincts have 16,563 registered voters. “It might really affect the results of the elections,” Comelec Chairman George Garcia said of the number of affected voters. As of Monday afternoon, they are the only polling places in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) where voting has yet to start, Garcia said. By past 1 pm, substitute ballots were being loaded into a commercial plane for its flight from Manila to Zamboanga City. The Comelec coordinated with military personnel to use their helicopter to directly deliver the election paraphernalia from Zamboanga City to Maluso town. “Tingnan natin kung anong oras darating ‘yan. We can always extend the voting and we can always complete the voting kahit pa umagahin o kahit pa bukas mangyari ‘yong halalan,” Garcia told reporters. (Let’s see when the ballots will arrive. We can always extend the voting and we can always complete the voting even if the election will happen until the morning, or even tomorrow.) Voting proceeded in the other precincts. Garcia disclosed that while several boxes were opened in the remaining voting precincts, the actual ballots were not compromised. He said the incident was an election offense, with the poll body studying if it could be classified as a case of electoral sabotage. “Hindi natatapos sa pagkakadiskubre ng isang insidente ang pagbabantay. Mas lalo tayong dapat maging mapagmatyag hanggang sa mabilang ang huling balota at marinig ang tunay na boses ng Bangsamoro,” Basilan Governor Mujiv Hataman said in a press release. (The monitoring does not stop with the discovery of one incident. We should be more vigilant until the last ballot is counted and we hear the true voice of Bangsamoro.) More than two million voters are expected to cast their ballots during BARMM’s first parliamentary elections. Over 600 candidates are vying for seats in the 80-member Bangsamoro Parliament. – Rappler.com