Comelec warns voters vs. making unnecessary marks, erasures on the ballot

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has warned voters against making unnecessary marks or erasures on the ballot when they cast their vote on May 13, saying the Vote Counting Machines (VCM) could read these marks as valid votes.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez issued the reminder amid Youtube videos making rounds on Facebook showing voters who claim that the receipt from the Vote Counting Machines did not reflect names of the candidates that they chose on their ballot.

Jimenez said a VCM receipt which does not reflect the names of candidates chosen by the voters on the ballot is not automatically a case of election fraud since the voter could have made accidental marks or committed wrong shading of the oval in the ballot of the candidates that he or she did not intend to vote.

The Comelec has previously said that while the VCMs would count the votes if the ovals beside the candidates are shaded at least 25%, voters should shade the oval of their preferred candidate at 100% and that voters should not overvote, meaning should not vote more than the required number of officials for the particular post (a voter should vote only 12 for senators, and one for mayor et.al)

“A mere allegation of inconsistency in the VCM receipt is not proof that something nefarious has happened. That claim has to be verified and shown to the BEIs (Board of Election Inspectors) because it is possible to leave accidental marks on these ovals,” Jimenez told reporters.

“There’s also the 25% threshold. A 25% percent shading threshold as far as one person is concerned may not necessarily be the same 25% percent shading for another person, so you really have to be careful how you treat your ballot,” he added.

Jimenez likewise cited that while check or x mark is not the proper way to shading the oval in the ballot, a certain oval can still end up being shaded more than 25% if the check or x mark is so big that it would shade more than 25% of the oval anyway which would be read by the machine as a valid vote.

At the same time, Jimenez reminded the voters that they could not erase or cancel a certain vote that they got wrong and such erasure by shading more than 25% of the oval altogether would again be red by the VCM as a valid vote.

“They cannot cross it out. Touch move po ito, kaya please make sure that you will not make inadvertent marks,” Jimenez said.

Election Day is set on May 13. 

Voters can cast their vote in their respective polling precinct from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. — RSJ, GMA News