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Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Board of canvassers directed to reconvene
By Carlo P. Mallo
DAVAO CITY -- The Board of Canvassers in this city was ordered to reconvene Tuesday following reports that vote padding happened in the first district.
A report received by Sun.Star Davao said Team Unity senatorial candidate Ralph Recto was given 85,000 votes more and this allowed him to place fifth in the ranking.
Pinoy Votes: Sun.Star Election 2007 Coverage
View here the list of local winners
In the unofficial tally of the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) and tabulation of other parties, Recto consistently ranked 14th.
Another Team Unity bet, Luis Chavit Singson, was also reported to have benefited from vote padding. Despite this, he failed to make it to the top 12. The alleged padding, however, kicked him up to number 20 from his 25th rank.
City Administrator Wendel E. Avisado said Tuesday he was able to obtain a copy of a memorandum issued by Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Romeo Brawner, which mandated an immediate reconvening of the Board of Canvassers.
The memorandum directed BOC chairperson Irma Vera Morcillo to immediately cause the recount of the votes in the first congressional district of the city for the national candidates.
Clerical errors and erroneous entries were the possible reasons cited by the memorandum for the inaccuracies in the votes for Recto and Singson.
Avisado said what happened was not surprising as it was observed even in the council race.
In one incident, according to Avisado, Diosdado Mahipus, who is seeking reelection, led with more than 10,000 votes over political newcomer John Louie Bonguyan.
An inspection of the entries revealed that instead of 1,442 votes, the canvassers tallied 14,442.
Avisado said the BOC is duty bound to correct the erroneous entries.
He also expressed hope that such incident is not replicated in other areas in the country and that this will not taint the credibility of the hotly contested mid-term elections.
Avisado refused to reveal who leaked the information about the vote padding. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pangasinan. (May 23, 2007 issue)
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