The Philippines’ Commission on Elections (Comelec) censured social media users for spreading rumours about alleged “pre-shaded ballots” for overseas voting that emerged on Monday (April 11, 2022), warning them of possible prosecution.
There are at least two claims of reported incidents of pre-shading in separate Philippine diplomatic posts overseas. Though the general elections are slated on May 9 in the country, balloting for the Philippine general elections started April 10 for overseas voters, leading to a strong initial OFW voter turnout.
1.7 million
Number of Filipino overseas registeredOverseas voting
Two posts allege voters had "discovered" that the ballot given to them was already pre-shaded.
Cheryl Abundo, the voter in Singapore who claimed she received a “pre-shaded ballot” on Monday, told CNN Philippines that the ballot given to her already had the names of vice presidential candidate Mayor Sara Duterte and other senatorial bets "pre-shaded", but other slots were not.
> 117,840 Filipino expatriates are listed by the Philippine embassy in Abu Dhabi.
When Abundo told the poll officials who gave her the ballot about it, they said it was a "spoiled ballot" from Sunday, the first day of overseas balloting.
Abundo then claimed she was given another ballot and was able to vote for her candidates of choice.
"The girl took the ballot I gave back, she placed it at the back and she handed me a new one," Abundo said.
Pre-shaded ballot reports: ‘Fake news’
In a livestream on Facebook, Comelec officials addressed the reports Monday.
A senior Comelec official warned against spreading unverified allegations and false information online, whether on social media or messaging applications — which casts doubt on the integrity of elections.
In a statement, the Philippine consulate in Dubai also reminded voters to approach the election board to their assigned precinct and raise specific concerns about any issue or irregularity they may encounter when casting their ballots.
In another incident, a netizen on Twitter, who goes by the handle @IbanagInTheCity shared a screengrab of a conversation where an OFW from Dubai claimed to have received a ballot where the name of a presidential candidate was already shaded — even before they actually did the shading themselves.
In the screengrab, the person claimed that the OFW called out Comelec officials as to why ballot was already shaded.
Minutes of voting
Irregularities should be reported immediately, the officials expplained.
“Any such irregularity/ies with regard the conduct of election at the Consulate, if they do occur, are recorded in the official OVF No. 11-A (Minutes of Voting for AES Voting Posts) which are submitted to the Commission on Elections,” it added.
No official report was filed about the Singapore incident, according election officials in Manila.
On Monday, two Comelec commissioners warned that those who spread "fake news" undermining the integrity of the elections could face prosecution.
Commissioner Marlon Casquejo, who heads the Office for Overseas Voting (OFOV), said that such incident (pre-shading) of ballots is unlikely — because voters are asked to sign off the ballot they received. This means it’s not been tampered with.
Procedure
If the voter accepts the ballot, and heads to the voting booth without any opposition, there is a presumption that the ballot is “clean”, he explained.
“Once s/he goes to the her voting booth, then return the ballot and say it’s pre-shaded, that’s no longer an acceptable reason because — first of all, once the ballot is given — she will immediately sign there. So it is impossible that after they received the ballot, once they go out of the polling booth, they will say it is shaded,” he said in Filipino.
“Our procedure is once the voter is given a ballot, the chairman of the SBEI (Special Board of Election Inspectors) makes sure that it is blank — it is not shaded or anything. If the voter sees that it is shaded, the voter will not accept it. So if the voter leaves without opposition, then there is a presumption that the ballot he or she received was clean.”
Votes from overseas will only be counted on May 9, 2021, after the close of the national polling day itself, an official said.
Prosecution
Comelec Commissioner George Garcia said they have yet to receive an official report from their post in Singapore.
“We have not received a report from our post, from any official there in Singapore, and therefore, it is fake news,” said Garcia. “They may think we cannot find them... Definitely we will be assigning commissioner Aimee Neri to be in charge of the prosecution of all these individuals,” Garcia said.
