Voters missing on the list hound City Comelec
Voters sift through the voters list posted
outside the polling precinct their names.
A number of voters were not able to vote yesterday after they failed to find their names in the Comelec's master list of registered voters.
Some of them even went to the City Comelec office at the Iloilo Terminal Market to seek explanation why there names were missing.
In one case, a 50-year old man asked a Comelec personnel why his name was not on the list. He was told that his name was deactivated from the voters list after he failed to vote in two previous elections and was not able to register again. The old man has no choice but to go home. He was advised to register again after the May 14 elections for the next electoral process.
There are also voters who went to the Comelec office saying they could not also find their names. However, a check on the master list of the poll body showed that they are included in the official list of registered voters. They were given details of their polling precincts in order to vote. One Comelec staff lamented that they do not exert effort to look for their names before going to the Comelec office to complain.
While, the City Comelec also issued several certifications for some voters who were registered but not included in the master list of the registered voters.
No major incidents in Iloilo City was recorded though there were records of violation of the liquor ban and failure of an election inspector to report in the polling precinct on time.
Also yesterday, the candidates both from the administration and opposition violated the rules of the Omnibus Election Code that prohibits the soliciting of votes or undertaking any propaganda for or against any candidate or any political party within the polling place or within the 30 meters radius.
The candidates used children to distribute sample ballots. The police and the Comelec were helpless to stop this violation. This violation holds throughout the entire polling places in the city. Though, there were police personnel who were stationed outside the precincts.
In another news, the City Comelec denied that it has fielded personnel to tell voters that the name of Team Unity senatorial candidate Allan Peter Cayetano be written in full when voting.
Some individuals reportedly posed as Comelec representatives asking the voters from Fundidor, Molo to write the full name of Cayetano when writing in the official ballot. The name Cayetano could be considered as stray ballot since the protest of Cayetano against another candidate Joselito Cayetano is still pending before the Supreme Court.