Comelec reverses March ruling, cancels mall voting

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Andres Bautista on Wednesday announced that "mall voting" on May 9 will no longer push through.

“All set na kami. Pero kahapon, dahil sa mga agam-agam, sabi ko pag-usapan muli at nagkabotohan kahapon. Mayroon tatlong commissioner na nagpalit ng isip kung kaya’t ngayon ang boto ay 4-3. The Comelec have decided not to proceed with the mall voting this 2016 elections,” Bautista said in an interview on News To Go.

The Comelec en banc on March 10 voted 6-1 in favor of the proposed mall voting on May 9.

Bautista said that a legal question came up regarding the number of days of the transfer of a polling precinct before election day, which the Comelec en banc took up on Tuesday.

"Akala ko po ay tuluy-tuloy na pero may ibang commissioner na sabi nila na kailangan may approval at kailangan inilipat na rin [ang voting precinct] 45 days before [the elections]," Bautista said.

Commissioners Rowena Guanzon and Christian Robert Lim had expressed their opposition to mall voting.

“Ang nakalagay sa Omnibus Election Code, 45 days before the election ay ma-approve na ang transfer. Ang sinasabi ng iba kailangan ma-approve at mailipat. Pero paano mo ba ililipat? Eh ‘di ba ililipat mo naman ‘yan sa araw ng halalan mismo,” Bautista argued.

A total of 231,174 Filipinos were slated to cast their votes in designated malls for the May 9 elections.

The Comelec was supposed to tap a total of 80 malls from 10 companies for the pilot project. The number of malls per group and the designated number of registered voters they will accommodate are as follows:

• SM Malls - 27 malls; 87,423 voters 
• Robinsons Malls - 20 malls; 60,486 voters
• Ayala Malls - 14 malls; 34,868 voters
• Walter Mart - 5 branches; 11,746 voters
• Pacific Malls - 3 malls; 11,602 voters
• CB Mall - 848 voters
• Gaisano Grand Malls - 5 malls; 10,630 voters
• Sta. Lucia Mall - 4,272 voters
• City Malls - 3 malls; 4,087 voters
• Fisher Mall - 5,212 voters

Bautista had earlier inked memoranda of agreement with Robinsons Malls and Ayala Malls.

The poll chief, who has espoused this pilot project in a bid to "enhance the voter experience," said they were "in the process" of informing voters affected by the move.

A total of 1,592 precincts—337 clustered ones—would have been involved in the project.

It was going to cater to 876 PWDs and 28,136 senior citizens.