VCMs malfunction in 3 Marinduque polling centers

A vote-counting machine undergoes a field test by the Comelec
and Smartmatic. PHOTO: RAFFY LERMA

BOAC, Marinduque–Malfunctioning vote-counting machines (VCMs) were reported in the barangays (villages) of Suha in Torrijos, Kasily in Sta. Cruz and Malayak in Mogpog on Monday, May 9, as residents cast their votes in Marinduque province.

Police Capt. Reynante Abordo of the Provincial Election Monitoring Center (Pemac) of Marinduque police, said the malfuntioning VCMs were immediately attended to by standby technicians at the polling centers.

In Barangay Suha in Torrijos town, meanwhile, there were reported paper jams and incidents on one of the two VCMs, affecting two voting centers (eight polling precincts) in the area.

As of 3 p.m., the shaded ballots were collected by the local Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) and it was agreed with the voters that they would return by 7 p.m. to personally insert the ballots to the VCM, once fixed by the technician.

Errors in VCM and weak signal registered on the machine were reported in Barangays Kasily in Sta. Cruz town and Malayak in Mogpog.

Meanwhile, as of this writing, Marinduque had a peaceful and orderly election, with no untoward incidents recorded, according to Marinduque police chief Christopher Melchor.

“Overall, it is generally peaceful, manageable here in Marinduque, hopefully until later….50-meter radius is the distance of police on duty in polling precinct, so we are always ready to attend once na [we are] needed in voting centers,” he said.  /ra