THE official ballots to be used on May 9 national and local elections in Zamboanga City have arrived from the central office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Lawyer Stephen Roy Cañete, first district election officer, said a total of 638 boxes of official ballots arrived Thursday, April 28, and these were deposited at the bolt of the City Treasurer's Office.
Cañete said that 299 of the 638 boxes are intended for the first district, which covers 37 of the city's 98 villages, while the remaining 339 for the second district covering the remaining 61 villages.
City Treasurer Romelita Candido said the ballot boxes were delivered to her office around 2:45 a.m. Thursday, April 28.
Candido said the official ballots arrived aboard a commercial vessel Wednesday night, April 27, but were only delivered to her office early Thursday due to inclement weather condition.
Cañete said they will set a schedule to inspect the official ballots and it will be witnessed by representatives of all local political parties.
Cañete said the allocation of official ballots is one-is-one, meaning one each per registered voter.
Zamboanga City has total registered voters of 403,464 of which 193,912 in the first district and 209,552 in the second district.
Cañete said there are 638 precincts in 120 polling centers in the city. (SunStar Zamboanga)