Senate bet Lidasan goes to Matanog to vote, finds name in Cotabato

Makabayan coalition senatorial candidate Amirah Lidasan was unable to cast her vote in her supposed precinct in Matanog, Maguindanao, after she didn't find her name on the voters' list at the Matanog Central Elementary School.

Lidasan told GMA News Online that she had her registration transferred from Cotabato City to Matanog, where she cast her vote in 2022.

After spending the entire morning from 7 a.m. to 12 noon, Lidasan was able to vote in Cotabato at past 5 p.m. after learning that her name was on the voter's list in Krislam Elementary School in the city.

She and the coalition are already investigating the incident, noting that other voters in the precinct cannot find their names in the list. 

"Nakakabahala itong pangyayari sa lugar namin. Dapat ay makapagpaliwanag agad ang COMELEC. Ang boto ko at bawat boto ng mamamayang Pilipino ay dapat na protektado at pinahahalagahan," said Lidasan in a statement. 

(This is worrisome. The COMELEC should immediately explain. My vote and every vote of the Filipino people should be protected and valued.) 

According to Makabayan, Lidasan already went to Cotabato City to cast her vote in this year’s poll “only to find out that the ACM is broken.” 

“Lidasan is not alone in this problem as there are several of them in the same predicament,” it said. 

Meanwhile, fellow Makabayan senatorial bet Alyn Andamo said that her vote for party-list was unaccounted for due to an error with the automated counting machine. 

“The election officer in the precinct told Andamo that there is nothing can be done since it was an error due to the machine, and they will just include it in their official documentation. However, no measures were taken to ensure counting of the vote,” the statement read. 

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Hence, Andamo is calling for a hybrid setup in the upcoming elections to avoid errors or possible electoral fraud. –NB, GMA Integrated News