Comelec adopts ‘group canvass report’ to speed up count

MANILA, Philippines – In order to speed up the canvassing process, the Commission of Elections (Comelec) has issued a resolution Wednesday directing provincial and city board of canvassers to print a “group canvass report” and to send it immediately to the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC).

Comelec Resolution 9701 issued Wednesday ordered provincial and city board of canvassers who have not yet sent their certificates of canvass (COCs) to the NBOC to “generate and print the ‘grouped canvass report’ for all candidates running for the position of senator.”

The resolution said that “in case a grouped canvass report cannot be generated due to the failure of the Consolidation Canvassing System (CCS) to receive at least 70 percent of the election returns, and certificates of canvass, which the CCS expects to receive,” provincial and city board of canvassers are ordered to generate the “monitor results transmission report.”

The reports will then be sent immediately to the NBOC.

As of Wednesday evening, only around 30 COCs have been received by the NBOC out of a total 304 expected COCs.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr., in an earlier press conference, said that the major problem with the transmission from the provinces is that they cannot transmit until they have 100 percent of the results from the municipal level.

The close race of the candidates on that level was preventing the board of canvassers from proclaiming winners and transmitting their COC until all of the election returns have been received.