AFTER the town of Maluso in Basilan was placed under Comelec control following the discovery of pre-shaded ballots in 36 polling precincts, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) assured that replacement ballots would be immediately forthcoming.
In an interview, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the National Printing Office (NPO) had already been given the green light to reprint and immediately ship the ballots.
He said the reprinted ballots would be flown to Zamboanga City and subsequently transported to Basilan.
“We have an existing protocol for such a scenario. It is good that it was immediately reported to us,” Garcia said.
The Comelec is confident that voting in the affected polling precincts would push through, although it may start late.
Garcia said they had already instructed their field personnel to properly inform members of the Electoral Boards and voters about the delay.
“We will always make a decision based on the recommendations of our designated administrator on what is the best option. It is within the power of the Comelec to extend voting hours,” Garcia said.
Poll sabotage?
Meanwhile, Garcia said the Comelec was looking into the possible filing of electoral sabotage charges against those behind the pre-shading of ballots in Maluso.
He said the pre-shading of 16,563 official ballots in 36 polling precincts in Maluso could constitute an election offense and could also be considered electoral sabotage.
“That is an election offense. At the same time, we will look into the possibility of it being an electoral sabotage case as well,” Garcia said.
Electoral sabotage, considered a special election offense, carries the penalty of life imprisonment. Under the law, certain forms of vote tampering involving more than 10,000 votes may constitute electoral sabotage.
An election offense, meanwhile, carries a penalty of one to six years’ imprisonment, disqualification from holding public office and deprivation of the right of suffrage.
Garcia said they were furious over the pre-shading of the official ballots, saying it had disrupted their otherwise smooth preparations for the first-ever Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections.
“Cases will definitely come. We will not forgive you, regardless of your position. We are not talking about who these people are. What’s important is that someone will be held accountable,” Garcia said. / Anton Banal
