2022 Philippine Elections

Aklan, Angeles City voters use ballpoint pens instead of marking pens to vote

Jun Aguirre, Joann Manabat

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Aklan, Angeles City voters use ballpoint pens instead of marking pens to vote

SUBSTITUTE PENS. A man uses a ballpoint pen provided by the Aklan office of the Commision on Elections in the barangay hall of Brgy Mina, Lezo town during the May 9, 2022 elections.

Jun Aguirre

(1st UPDATE) Aklan election officials say reports from other regions indicate Comelec's marking pens cause issues with vote counting machines, while Angeles City officials say the use of ballpoint pens violate no rules

Voters in Lezo, Aklan, and Angeles City, Pampanga, used ballpoint pens instead of marking pens to cast their votes on Monday, May 9.

This is despite the Commission on Elections (Comelec) supposedly providing marking pens to shade ballots. Voters are instructed to fully shade the entire oval beside a candidate’s name to make sure it is counted by the VCM. Voters are also told to refrain from placing extra markings on the ballot.

In Aklan, acting provincial election supervisor Reiner Layson released an advisory on Sunday, May 8, the eve of the elections, saying the poll body had supplied black ballpoint pens to 694 clustered precincts all over the province.

“There have been multiple reports from other regions that the current marking pens are causing some VCM (vote counting machine) scanners to become defective. This will inadvertently prevent voters from having their ballots appreciated by the machine until repair is undertaken,” Layson said.

“Considering that the repair hub for defective VCMs is at Cebu City, Comelec Aklan has taken the initiative to present a mitigating measure to prevent scanner malfunctions from happening. We have deployed ballpoint pens to all 694 clustered precincts in the province to be used for shading official ballots,” Layson added.

Memo from Aklan provincial election supervisor Rainier B. Layson explains why they replaced the traditional marking pens with ballpoint pens. (Courtesy of Aklan capitol)

The Aklan province has around 409,000 voters coming from 17 towns, including Boracay Island. 

Reports coming from the 3rd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, meanwhile, said chopper teams had successfully transported election paraphernalia and VCMs to the hinterlands of Libacao, where indigenous peoples comprise the bulk of voters.

In a related report, Layson also released an advisory on May 7, announcing that around 20 bars in Boracay were given certificates of exemptions for the liquor ban, but only for foreign tourists.

Own pens for Angeles

In Angeles, two voters were told at the precinct at San Ignacio Elementary School to use their own ballpoint pens to shade their ballot.

In a Facebook post by Sheiden dela Cruz, she said that her parents were not provided with an official Comelec marker pen as they were instructed to use their own pens. She added that her parents had to borrow a pen as they did not bring one with them.

According to Dela Cruz, whose voting precinct is next to her parents’, she was told by the teacher in charge that the Comelec did not provide pens for the whole of Angeles City.

Hindi parents ko ang nakiusap to use their own ballpen (My parents were not the ones who asked to use their own ballpen,” she said. “They were in fact the ones that stressed and demanded a Comelec pen and I even went back to ask them, same answer for all of us – hindi nag-provide ang Comelec (Comelec did not provide).”

Rappler tried to get a statement from San Ignacio Elementary School precinct chairperson Reizel Fernandez, but Fernandez did not grant an interview.

Dela Cruz said, though, that her parents’ ballots were accepted and read by the PCOS machine. Her parents, she said, checked the results for accuracy.

Angeles City election officer Jun Guiao said voters have the right to choose whether to use the Comelec official marker or their own pens. He said no rules were violated and the case was isolated.

“Well actually, if a voter has a ballpen, they are allowed to use it. It’s in the rules that they can use their own ballpen because of the pandemic. But for those without pens, there are Comelec pens for them to use,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Guiao said that the elections in Angeles City had been peaceful in general, and no other incidents have been reported so far. – Rappler.com

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