Comelec defers proclamation of winning senators

The National Board of Canvassers at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC). (File Photo)
The National Board of Canvassers at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC). (File Photo)

THE winners of the 2019 senatorial race will not be proclaimed Tuesday, May 21, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced.

"Very sorry to disappoint everyone but it looks like today is not the day," Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said in a press conference Tuesday.

"At this point, with everything that's happened, let us just wait what will happen tonight. But, again, it's not today," he added.

Jimenez said the deferment was prompted by the continued failure to transmit the Certificate of Canvass (COC) from the United States (US).

"We have to await the returns from Washington because they represent more than 200,000 registered voters. So, in order to make sure that there is no more movement in the ranking of elected officials, we need to get that," Jimenez said.

The COC from the US is the only COC that has yet to be canvassed by the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC). There are 228,472 registered voters in the US.

Asked what is causing the delay, Jimenez said the election returns from Los Angeles have not arrived in Washington.

"We're expecting the results from LA to arrive in Washington by around 8 PM Philippine time. So they still have to be canvassed by the Special Board of Canvassers before being able to electronically transmit the results. Hopefully, that will be fast," he explained.

Jimenez the schedule of the proclamation will depend on the speed of the arrival of the COC from the US.

"Our commissioners are planning to stay until this is over and done with so that we can already push through with the proclamation as soon as possible," said Jimenez.

On early Tuesday, the NBOC already canvassed the results from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

This brings to 166 out of the 167 COCs that have already been canvassed by the NBOC. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)

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