Albay voters doubt 2019 poll integrity due to malfunctioning VCMs

LEGAZPI CITY–Hundreds of voters in Albay have cast doubts on the integrity of the midterm national and local elections following reports that a number of Vote Counting Machines (VCMs) in various voting precincts have malfunctioned.

But election supervisor Neil Canicula, of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Albay, clarified that only 17 VCMs were reported to have malfunctioned while 22 VCMs in Legazpi City are still to be validated.

He said that in Legazpi City alone, 166 VCMs were dispatched for the 42 voting centers covering 70 villages of the city.

Canicula, in a phone interview, said the VCMs that failed to operate had minor defects when checked by the agency technician, mostly on the SD card, that needs to be reconfigured.

Canicula said 1,218 VCMs were dispatched in the three cities and 15 towns of the province.

Canicula said as of noon Monday, only 39 VCMs were reported to have malfunctioned, only a small percentage (0.03 percent) of the total number of VCMs in Albay. (Editor: Jonathan P. Vicente)