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Friday, February 13, 2004
Not enough ballot boxes
By Linette C. Ramos
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) Cebu City Office is anticipating a shortage in ballot boxes for the May 10 polls, which would require a total of 2,427 boxes.
Only over a thousand ballot boxes are currently stored in the Cebu City Treasurer’s Office.
In the coming weeks, the treasurer’s office will be busy emptying and cleaning ballot boxes after the Comelec asked them to prepare for the elections.
City Election Officer Simaco Labata yesterday authorized Acting City Treasurer Tessie Camarillo to empty the ballot boxes used in the 2002 barangay elections.
Camarillo said she already assigned her staff to start clearing the storage room where the more than 1,000 boxes are kept. They will also coordinate with the Office of the Building Official (OBO).
“If there are only 1,000 plus boxes in the treasurer’s office, then we will really be short of ballot boxes. We will have to ask from Comelec Manila,” Labata said.
It is for this reason that they are preparing the boxes this early, so they will have time to request for the needed ballot boxes.
Except for the boxes involved in an election protest pending in any court, all ballot boxes
are to be opened, cleaned and repainted.
Boxes containing ballots that are under election protest cannot be used this May 10.
The city treasurer was also asked to inform the Comelec the exact number of ballot boxes available and how many are still needed.
In compliance with Comelec Resolution 6520, the implementing rules and regulations of the Fair Election Act in relation to the May 10 polls, a supervisory task force was created to monitor the posting of election materials in public places.
Labata said they were not able to start removing illegally posted posters yet because the Cebu City Police Office and the City Government have yet to send them the personnel.
The Comelec resolution ordered the task force to monitor where the campaign materials are posted, remove illegally posted materials and to file complaints for election offenses.
The election officer of the local government unit automatically becomes the chairman of the task force while the police chief is the vice chairman.
Officials of the OBO and the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) are also members of the task force.
Labata said ABC officials and barangay tanods are deputized to remove illegally posted campaign materials.
(February 13, 2004 issue)
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