Damp ballots rejected in Agusan provinces

BUTUAN CITY— Rejected ballots due to dampness were only one of the problems that marred the conduct of automated elections in two Agusan provinces on Monday, according to the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV). Grace Broncano, PPCRV's head of operations in Agusan del Sur and Agusan del Norte, said heavy rains in the area caused many voters to cast their votes with wet hands. The rejection of the ballots was due to the sensitivity of the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) to moisture, according to Broncano. Like in several areas nationwide, malfunctioning election machines were also reported in several precincts in Agusan del Sur and Agusan del Norte. Broncano said some replacement machines were also found defective. “We have now problems on defective PCOS machine replacements," she said. She, however, said that the faulty machines had already been repaired by technicians hired by technology provider Smartmatic. Slow-moving lines also discouraged many voters from casting their votes. In Barangay Maon Elementary School, election inspectors said an average of 20 voters could only be accommodated in an hour because some of those who were inside the precincts were slow in shading the ballots. At the Baan Riverside Elementary School here in Butuan City, two elderly women voters—Editha Crispulo, 66, and Norma Aquino, 64—collapsed due to the heat while waiting their turn to vote. Vote-buying, meanwhile, were reported in Agusan del Sur. In San Luis, Agusan del Sur and in some parts of Surigao del Norte, power outage occurred for several minutes in the morning. In Surigao City, five PCOS machines malfunctioned while massive vote-buying were also reported in Siargao Island in Surigao del Norte, according to the PPCRV. —Ben Serrano/KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV