ARMM polls: Comelec will not release partial results to avoid trending

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections on Monday evening said it will not be releasing partial results of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) automated elections to "avoid trending." "We don't release partial results as a matter of policy. We want to avoid any appearance of trending," Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez told reporters. As of 8 p.m., Jimenez said 25.21 percent of Maguindanao, 9.2 percent of Tawi-Tawi, 3.94 percent of Lanao del Sur, 2.86 percent of Basilan, 2.75 percent of Shariff Kabunsuan, and 2.15 percent of Sulu have already transmitted elections results. Jimenez said Maguindanao was fast in transmitting its results as it used the DRE or Direct Recording Electronic by technology provider Smartmatic-Sahi Joint Venture. DRE uses touch-screen technology wherein the voter would simply press the part of the screen containing the candidate's name. Smarmatic-Sahi is also tasked to handle the transmission and canvassing of votes in the whole ARMM. The other technology, Optical Mark Reader (OMR) of Avante International Technology Inc., was used in Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Shariff Kabunsuan, Sulu and Tawi-tawi. OMR uses a ballot system. The ballot contains the candidates' names and the voter simply shades the space corresponding to the chosen candidate. As of posting time, the ARMM Board of Canvassers, which convened at the Comelec session hall in Intramuros, Manila, is still waiting for results from the provinces. The BOC expects to proclaim the winning gubernatorial and vice-gubernatorial candidates by Wednesday. The winning regional assemblymen will be proclaimed in their respective provinces. The poll body has described the ARMM elections as “very, very peaceful" with an “excellent" voter turnout. "Altogether these are minor incidents, no shooting involved, no violence, so generally the elections there is very, very peaceful and the turnout (of voters) is very, very good," Comelec chairman Jose Melo said in a press conference held at the Comelec office. Although Melo is yet to give a total number of voter turnout in the whole of ARMM, he said it is excellent. "Anything between 30 to 40 percent would be very good already. Now we are hitting almost 50 to 60 percent. I would say that's excellent," Melo said. Melo reported during the press conference that Lanao del Sur, Shariff Kabunsuan and Maguindanao registered a 60 percent turnout each, while Sulu hit a 50 percent voter turnout as per report from Commissioner Lucenito Tagle, who is in the province to supervise the elections. Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, also during the press conference, said Tawi-Tawi has a "very encouraging 60 to 65 percent" voter turnout. ARMM has a total of 1,516,775 registered voters. - GMANews.TV