Comelec allows election board chairs to vote on May 14

A teacher prepares a tally sheet in one of the polling centers at Corazon Aquino Elementary School on Batasan Road, Quezon City, on the eve of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections 2018. PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER /GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Chairpersons of electoral boards in the 2018 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) have been allowed to cast their votes today.

In Resolution No. 10338, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc allowed all chairpersons of electoral boards to exercise their voting privilege on election day, May 14.

“The Commission, after due deliberation, resolved as it hereby resolves, to allow the chairperson of the electoral board to exercise his voting privilege,” the resolution stated.

Electoral board chairpersons were previously not allowed to leave their assigned precinct and vote in their registered precinct since they were tasked to authenticate votes.

Now, the Comelec en banc said that the poll clerk should temporarily assume the position during the chairperson’s absence when the latter would vote.

In a press briefing on Monday morning, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez explained that the board chairperson should not be away from his assigned precinct for not more than 30 minutes.

Jimenez added that the board chairperson should only cast his vote during off-peak hours at his assigned precinct. The chairperson’s scheduled vote should also be recorded in the board’s minutes. /cbb