460 Guimbal voters get ballots for Samar province
Voters from Poblacion, Guimbal, Iloilo, could not hide their disappointment after voting was suspended in the area.
The reason? Members of the board of election inspectors (BEIs) assigned at the Guimbal Central Elementary School found out that the ballots supplied at their precinct were supposed to be the ballots for Brgy. Buenos Aires in Pagsanghan town, Western Samar.
Several voters already shaded their choice for the national posts when they found out, after flipping at the back page, that they were unfamiliar with the names of the local candidates.
The incident had 462 registered voters not able to cast their votes.
According to the BEIs, they did not bother to inspect the ballots earlier because they were instructed that these should only be opened on election day.
Meanwhile, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) provincial office said that they would wait for the advice of the COMELEC Central Office.
A ballot mix up also happened in a voting precinct in Passi City and Tigbauan as well as in Cabatuan and Mina towns. However, the elections in said areas pushed through, although late, after the Comelec swapped the ballots.
On the other hand, a Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machine bogged down in one of the clustered precincts in the Tagbac Elementary School in Jaro district, Iloilo City while residents were casting their votes.
Immediately after, a back-up machine was brought to the voting center but it also experienced some problems.
Despite this, casting of votes proceeded at the affected precinct.
The BEIs instead collected the shaded ballots and placed them in boxes.
