Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – No special election will be held in Compostela Valley despite reports that one of its polling precincts received ballots intended for Baguio City, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brillantes said Monday.
At a press briefing, Brillantes said there may have been election problem in one precinct in Compostela Valley but that does not mean a failure of election in the entire province.
A total of 800 ballots in Compostela Valley have been switched with those intended for Baguio City. The incident has affected 858 voters from Clustered Precinct 22 at Gabi Elementary School in Compostela Valley and undetermined number of voters in Benguet’s Rizal Elementary School.
A Comelec officer in Baguio already declared a failure of election following the switching incident.
Brillantes said there will be no special elections in Compostela because of the incident.
“This involved only a particular precinct and therefore it should not affect the election both in Compostela Valley and in Baguio City unless the votes in Compostela or in Baguio were so close that the votes will adversely affect the outcome of the elections, in which case, there will be a special election,” Brillantes said.
Brillantes said failure of election exists only at a particular precinct in Compostela but not the entire province.
“But the overall assessment as of today, OK lang po, wala pong problema (all OK, there’s no problem),” he added.