ELEKSYON 2022

Ballot feeding suspended due to technical issue —Consulate General in NY

The Philippine Consulate General in New York has temporarily suspended the ballot feeding at the Kalayaan Hall due to a technical issue involving one of the vote counting machines (VCMs) being used in the overseas absentee voting.

In an advisory dated April 21, 2022 (US time), the Consulate General said the technical issue was encountered during the latter part of the ballot feeding process when one of the two remaining ballots got stuck inside one of the VCMs.

"Although a second VCM is available, the Consulate decided to suspend the ballot feeding until it receives guidance from the Commission on Elections whether said VCM, which has undergone final testing, can be utilized," the advisory read.

Since the Consulate has yet to receive a response from the Comelec, it said it has decided to feed the remaining ballots on the next scheduled ballot feeding on Monday, April 25.

"By then, COMELEC guidance would already have been given," the Consulate said.

Overseas absentee voting (OAV) for the May 9 elections started on April 10 and will last until May 9 or Election Day in the Philippines.

Based on Comelec’s data, there are 1,697,215 overseas Filipinos registered for the 2022 elections.  —KBK, GMA News