NEGROS Occidental provincial election supervisor Milagros Salud Villanueva said there are initially lesser election violations this campaign season compared to the 2016 elections.

This was based on the results of “Oplan Baklas” conducted by the election officers all over the province, she said.

“Although there are violations at the onset of the campaign period for senators and party-list groups, it's minimal compared to the violations last election. Even the campaign materials, it's lesser now compared to the previous election,” Villanueva said.

This may be the result of the massive campaign of Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the candidates to strictly observe the campaign rules, like placing their campaign materials at the designated common poster areas, she said.

The candidates uses more the social media for their campaign, she added.

The campaign period for senators and party-lists groups has started on February 12 while the campaign period for local candidates will kick off on March 29.

Meanwhile, Villanueva said the 16 election officers from the province will train in Iloilo next week.

After their training, they will train the members of the electoral board.

The training includes the general instructions of the electoral board, vote counting machines, voting registration verification system, voting of persons deprived of liberty, and the consolidated canvassing system.

On the reshuffling of election officers, Villanueva said they are waiting for the go signal from the Comelec central office.

She added the election officers are now busy with the training as the May 13 polls is fast approaching.