THOSE assigned to count the votes garnered by Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo and former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the May 2016 polls should now refer to election returns to determine how the votes should be counted, said the Supreme Court, acting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.
“In view of the foregoing, the head revisors are hereby directed to refer to the election returns to verify the total number of votes as read and counted by the vote counting machines (VCMs),” said the PET in its September 18 decision.
The order came as the PET, in the same resolution, sided with Robredo's plea to use the Commission on Elections' ballot shading threshold of 25 percent in determining the validity of votes in the ongoing electoral recount concerning the 2016 vice presidential race.
READ: Palace respects PET ruling on 25% ballot shading threshold for vote recount
In the same resolution penned by Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, the PET amended Rule 62 of the PET Revisor’s Guide pursuant to Rule 88 to read as follows: “The segregation and classification of ballots shall be done by referring to the election return generated by the machine used in the election. The head revisor shall count the total number of ballots for the protestant, protest, other candidates, and with stray votes and record said matter on the appropriate spaces of the revision report.”
Robredo previously questioned the 50 percent shading threshold imposed by the PET in determining the validity of the votes now being counted in the electoral recount that has been ongoing since March.
She argued that the threshold should be 25 percent, as it was the threshold percentage used by the Comelec in the 2016 polls.
In an earlier resolution, the PET denied Robredo’s request, saying it was not aware of the Comelec resolution stating that the 25 percent shaded oval will still be counted.
The SC, however, set aside on September 18, the voting threshold, partially granting Robredo’s motion.
The PET, in sustaining Comelec’s use of 25 percent shading threshold, advised the head revisors, which come from the PET, that “in examining the shades or marks used to register the votes, they shall bear in mind that the will of the voters reflected as votes in the ballots shall, as much as possible, be given effect, setting aside any technicalities.”
This means that the votes for either Robredo or Marcos will be counted regardless of whether the oval is 25 percent or 50 percent shaded.
Once the revisors are done comparing the total number of votes in the ballots from the total number of votes reflected in the election returns, Robredo and Marcos will be allowed to make objections.
“The objective of the revision process of mimicking or verifying/confirming how the VCMs read or counted the votes can be achieved by referring to the election returns generated by the VCMs used in the 2016 elections,” the resolution stated. (SunStar Philippines)