Voting was postponed Monday in 36 precincts in Maluso, Basilan, due to the discovery of pre-shaded ballots by Philippine election officials. As a result, replacement ballots were immediately reprinted and shipped as authorities moved to safeguard the integrity of the region’s first parliamentary elections.
The Commission on Elections(Comelec), said 36 of Maluso’s 68 precincts’ ballots had been compromised after they had been pre-marked before voting started. Comelec Chairman George Garcia ordered the reprinting of the affected ballots that were flown to Zamboanga City and then shipped to Basilan through the National Printing Office.
“We have an existing protocol for such a scenario. It is good that it was immediately reported to us,” Garcia said, according to SunStar.
Voting in the affected precincts is expected to go on but could start late, he said. Comelec officials were directed to tell the election boards and voters of the delay.
Garcia said the pre-shading of 16,563 official ballots could be considered an electoral offence and authorities will investigate whether the incident amounted to electoral sabotage.
The incident occurred as almost 2.4 million voters across the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao(BARMM), went to the polls to elect an 80-member parliament. The election is a major milestone in the region’s transition to self-government following a 2014 peace agreement.
