Comelec to probe pre-shaded ballot in Negros Oriental

DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Negros Oriental has vowed to investigate a claim by a voter that he received a pre-shaded ballot.

Lawyer Juvenal Tuale, provincial election supervisor, said the claim of Noel Cimafranca should be investigated. He said the ballots were opened only on Monday morning.

“They were not opened earlier because we are not allowed to do that,” he said.

Cimafranca, a resident of Barangay Tinago, executed an affidavit to say that he got the pre-shaded ballot when he went to vote in Precinct 0005A  at the Dumaguete City Central School on Monday morning.

Alex Icao, a lawyer for the Liberal Party, said they filed an election protest shortly after the incident.

Icao declined to comment on the incident, saying he only had second-hand information on the incident, but said he was surprised by the allegation.

He said an investigation would be in order.

Icao said Cimafranca stated in his affidavit that the ballot he saw was shaded and the marks corresponded to the names of the candidates who were “not with the Liberal Party.”