Voter's finger marked with indelible ink even before voting in Bulacan

A voter in San Jose Del Monte City, Bulacan protested after a member of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) allegedly marked her finger with indelible ink even before she has voted,  GMA News’ Marisol Abdurahman reported on Monday.

According to the voter, who refused to divulge her identity, the BEI member told her to proceed to a woman in black after her name was verified on the list.

When the voter received her ballot and secrecy folder, she approached the women that she believed to be a BEI member too and gave to her the ballot.

“Pinadiretso niya ako sa isang table na may balota , yun po dapat ang ishe-shade natin. Ngayon po, hindi ko po yun nagawa kasi ang sabi niya diretso po ako doon sa babaeng naka-black,” she said.

The woman in black, the voter said, immediately marked her finger with indelible ink without even asking her if she has voted.

According to the voter, the woman fed her ballot to the vote counting machine and a voting receipt was generated. She said she saw names were printed in the receipt even if she did not shade her ballot.

“May lumabas na isang mahabang papel, may pangalan na agad e, pero wala akong boto,” she said.

She said she tried to raise her concern but the BEI member just told her: Okay na yun.

The voter, in tears, approached the media to assist her with her concern. She said she felt that she has been robbed of her right to vote due to the incident.

GMA News already reached out to the involved BEI members but they did not respond yet due to their ongoing task.  GMA News also sought the Commission on Elections' (Comelec) side about the matter. —Joviland Rita/LDF, GMA News