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Comelec makes last-minute change in ballot box design


The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has decided to alter the appearance of the ballot box that will be used in the May automated elections as an additional measure to protect the ballots. The ballot box would now be black instead of transparent in order to protect the UV markings on the ballots, according to Comelec spokesman James Jimenez in an interview Tuesday. “The UV markings are susceptible to sunlight," Jimenez explained. “When you have the markings exposed to sunlight for an extended period of time, then they might fade, so that’s why it has to be black."

(LEFT) The old ballot box design that was supposed to be used in the 2010 polls. (RIGHT) The new ballot box that is designed to protect the UV markings used to authenticate a ballot. - Kim Tan
The ballot boxes will be placed under the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines. The new ballot box design is 34 inches in height, 36 inches in length, and 20 inches in width. The poll body and the National Printing Office had earlier said they would each put UV markings on the ballots being printed for the elections. The UV mark will prove the authenticity of the ballot. The counting in the May elections will be automated, but ballots will still be counted manually for the random audit and for any future electoral protest. “If a recount has to be carried out, you’re checking the ballots then suddenly your ballots don’t have UV marks, so what were original ballots in the beginning might suddenly look like fake ballots. So you have a false result," said Jimenez. He said there is nothing wrong in the last-minute change of the ballot box design. “There is nothing wrong with changing the design of the box, [it was] designed… for [an] additional measure of security." Jimenez assured that despite the dark color, the public and other stakeholders could still see the inside of the ballot box through the translucent rectangular windows on each of its sides. “That’s one of the more important safety features… to see that the ballots are being fed directly into the box," he said. Each box can contain 1,000 ballots and will be sealed with three padlocks, according to Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal. - KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV
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