VP poll recount prompts Comelec to buy 70,000 new ballot boxes

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to purchase about 70,000 ballot boxes for the May 2019 midterm polls because the boxes used in the 2016 elections are either involved in pending electoral protests or covered by the precautionary protective order (PPO) issued by the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET).

“We cannot use these ballot boxes for the 2019 elections, making it necessary to procure new ones,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said.

In 2016, the PET issued a PPO, which ordered the Comelec to preserve and safeguard the integrity of the ballot boxes and their contents, as well as the ballots, voter’s receipts and election returns involved in the electoral protest case filed by former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos against Vice President Leni Robredo.

Invitation to bid

The poll body’s Bids and Awards Committee has released an invitation to bid for suppliers of 72,519 ballot boxes, which has a total approved budget P173,755,524, or P2,396 per box.—TINA G. SANTOS