Comelec to voters: Make sure BEIs preserve rejected ballots

MANILA, Philippines—The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday urged voters to make sure that the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) in their polling precincts preserve ballots rejected by the vote counting machines (VCMs).

Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez on Monday issued the statement after former Vice President Jejomar Binay complained that his ballot was not read by the VCM even after eight attempts.

READ: BREAK: Comelec: VCM malfunctioned, ex-VP Binay’s ballot to be refed

“Make sure na ‘yung inyong balota ay nape-preserve ng ating Board of Election Inspectors and then we will see. We will have to study this situation very closely,” he said in a brief press briefing at PICC Forum.

“Aalamin natin ang solusyon na ginawa natin dito and see if we can cascade it to other places kung sakaling magkaroon ng similar problems,” he added.

Jimenez said the VCM at Binay’s polling precinct in San Antonio, Makati malfunctioned.

The machine has since been replaced and the rejected ballots will be batch-fed to the new machine, including that of Binay’s. (Editor: Mike U. Frialde)

READ: VCM rejects ex-VP Binay’s ballot; to file complaint at Comelec