Plans to address May 2010 ballot shortage, rejection released

Contigency plans for the Philippines’ first automated elections have been released, addressing expectations of ballot shortage and rejection. The Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) Resolution 8786 was issued to “fine tune the process and address procedural gaps" found in an earlier issuance dated December last year. Released in December, resolution No. 8739 provides for the General Instructions (GI) for the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) on the voting, counting, and transmission of results in the May 2010 polls. Ballot shortage Earlier, the Comelec had said that it will not be printing additional ballots for those who registered during the extended listup held on December 21, 22, 23, 28, and 29 of last year. Additional voters will only be able vote if there would be “spare" ballots on election day. The original registration ran from December 2008 until October 31, 2009. A total of 50,723,734 Filipinos will be voting in the May polls. Under the revised general instructions, prospective voters who will be unable to vote in their precincts due to a ballot shortage will be given a certification from the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI). The certification will allow these voters to cast their ballots in another precinct which still has spare ballots. Voters will be accompanied to the next precinct belonging to the same councilor district where they may cast his vote. Ballot rejection Earlier, the poll body likewise said that in case a ballot is rejected, the voter will only be allowed to feed his or her ballot to the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machine once more. Afterwards, it will be confiscated. But under the revised GI, it said that the PCOS unit will display three different types of messages when a ballot is rejected. When the poll machine displays the words "ambiguous mark," the voter will be allowed to review his or her ballot to ensure that the ovals opposite to the names of the candidate are fully shaded. If the unit displays the words "misread ballot," the voter will be allowed to re-feed the ballot in four different orientations. If the PCOS says "invalid ballot," the BEI will verify if the ballot really belongs to the precinct. If it does, the voter will likewise be allowed to re-feed the ballot four times. However, if the ballot is still rejected, it will finally be confiscated by the BEI. No replacement ballot shall be issued. For BEIs Resolution 8786 also granted teachers serving BEIs on May 10 an additional allowance of P1,500, besides their basic honoraria of P3,000. It said that each BEI member shall receive P500 for the inspection, verification and sealing of the book of voters; P500 for the testing and sealing of machines; and P500 for one-time transportation allowance. The Comelec also granted service credits of three days for the teachers. The poll body is set to tap 240,000 teachers to supervise 74,000 clustered precincts nationwide. According to the law, BEIs are entitled to a P1,000 honorarium a day for serving on the day before the elections, the election day itself and the day after. The Comelec resolution said support staff members of the BEIs shall also be granted a P1,500 honorarium and service credits for three days of service. In addition, P30 million shall be allotted for any election-related death or injuries that may be sustained by the BEIs in the performance of election duties. The heirs of the deceased official or employee shall be given the amount of P200,000. Clustered precincts composed of three polling precincts shall be entitled to one additional support staff; four precincts with two support staffs; and those with five to seven clustered precincts with three. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV