Comelec admits 2018 barangay polls lasted longer than expected

The conduct of the 2018 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections lasted longer than expected because of manual polling, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) admitted on Tuesday.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez noted that barangays were still canvassing and proclaiming a day after the polls, contrary to their initial expectation that all winners would be proclaimed on May 14, election day.

As of 1:50 p.m. on Tuesday, Jimenez said only 94.01% of all 42,044 barangays in the country have finished polling and proclaimed their respective winning candidates.

“We were a little optimistic during our projection, wherein I said that majority will be done within the day. But then again were still within the time frame of up to 32 hours after the elections,” Jimenez told reporters in an interview.

“Why did the election took longer? Because it’s a manual election,” the spokesman explained. “We saw that the candidates really participated actively, especially in the counting process.”

However, Jimenez said manual election was more practical compared to an automated election because the voting was localized.

“The strength of automated elections is the automated consolidation of votes from all over the country into the national tally,” he explained.

“There is no national tally for the barangay (polls). The only consolidation for the barangay is the different precincts within the barangay,” he added. “Manual counting is more cost-efficient.” /vvp