Delayed voting in Maguindanao towns

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines (UPDATED) – Voting in at least two towns here on Monday, May 13 has been delayed due to ballot counting machines that have either not arrived in the precincts or are not working.

In Datu Pendililang Elementary School in Datu, Saudi Maguindanao town, only one precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machine was delivered on time while the machines for 3 barangays arrived 15 minutes after polls were supposed to open.

As of posting, at least one barangay in this town is still waiting for its PCOS.

Members of the Board of Election Inspectors told Rappler that many PCOS machines could not be transported from the town hall to clustered precincts due to lack of security escorts.

In the town of Talayan, PCOS machines were not working as of 7:30 am, according to  Linang Mantil, board of election inspectors.

“A voter cast his votes but the machine did not accept his vote cast. The same happened in other schools,” she said. “We tried it 4 times to see the ballot but it was rejected,” she added.

Many voters here have been in the precincts as early as 3.30 am Monday. – with reports from Jeofrey Maitem/Rappler.com

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