Election successful despite glitches – Comelec Albay

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – The conduct of the May 13 polls is still considered successful despite glitches, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Albay said.

Neil Canicula, acting provincial election supervisor, said 159 defective SD cards caused delays in the canvassing of votes in several clustered precincts in the province.

“It is still a success despite glitches in the vote counting machine (VCM). It did not disenfranchise the voters because they were able to cast votes,” he said.

Canicula does not believe that the VCM printed inaccurate lists of candidates cast in the ballot.

“According to Comelec and Smartmatic, the security measures for VCM is even stricter or harder or more than the security placed in the ATM,” he said.

He added that there had been previous protests, but none of these cases were able to prove that the VCM or PCOS machine was not accurate.

Canicula advised the voters to file a formal complaint to prove their allegations.

Since Monday, voters have questioned the integrity of the midterm elections due to faulty VCMs and SD cards as well as reports of pre-shaded ballots and receipts that did not reflect the candidates chosen by voters. (Editor: Eden Estopace)