Vice President Leni Robredo said on Tuesday, April 12, that lawyers from her camp have begun looking into allegations of pre-shaded ballots in the ongoing overseas election.

Reports have surfaced of pre-shaded ballots being handed to voters in Singapore and Dubai. The Philippine consulate in Dubai denied this, while the embassy in Singapore acknowledged that a spoiled ballot was erroneously handed to a voter. The embassy called it an isolated incident.

In an interview during her La Union visit on Tuesday, Robredo said that the alleged pre-shaded ballots were a “cause for concern” and that her camp had been warned about it.

“We have asked our lawyers to look into this, but we will definitely file a statement from our lawyers saying this needs to be investigated because they may not just happen in one place. We hope this is an isolated incident, but we need to be vigilant,” she said in Filipino.

Robredo said that “all bodies with the mandate to investigate” should probe the reports, including the Senate.

“The integrity of the elections is at stake here. We appeal to anyone who encounters a pre-shaded ballot to report it so we can document it,” she added.

Some reports that went viral on social media claimed that vice presidential candidate and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte’s oval was allegedly pre-shaded on some ballots in Singapore and Dubai. Duterte said in a statement on Monday, April 11, that she did not condone cheating and that reports such as these should not be taken lightly.

Reelectionist senator and former election lawyer Leila de Lima appealed to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to address concerns flagged by overseas voters in various countries.

Days before the start of overseas voting on April 10, representatives of overseas Filipino groups raised the alarm that there could be disenfranchisement in the election due to an alleged lack of information dissemination and engagement with voters on electoral processes.

On Monday, April 11, De Lima issued a statement, calling this “alarming.”

“Overseas absentee voting has begun and will last until May 9, and if [the Comelec] does not address the issues faced by our countrymen abroad, many votes will be wasted, or this could be a cause of irregularities and cheating,” De Lima said in Filipino.

De Lima also urged registered overseas voters to be vigilant as they vote and make sure their ballots are sealed.

“Our votes are important and they must be counted, so I am inviting all our countrymen in different parts of the world, to not only choose your candidates wisely but to be vigilant towards possible cheating or irregularities. Let’s not allow our votes to go to waste,” she said in Filipino.

The Philippine consulate general in Dubai disputed allegations circulating online that one Filipino taking part in the overseas voting in the 2022 polls received a ballot that had already been shaded. 

In a statement on Monday, April 11, the consular office said no untoward incident was listed in their minutes, which were submitted to the Commission on Elections (Comelec). 

“Poll watchers from at least five different political parties who were present during the entire voting period yesterday (April 10) likewise witnessed or reported no irregularity,” the statement read.

Read more.

The Philippine consulate general in Hong Kong increased the number of polling precincts in the region from five to 10, to keep up with the influx of overseas voters.

“Voting at the Bayanihan Kennedy Town Centre will be open daily from 8 am to 5 pm,” its advisory on Monday, April 11 read.

Hundreds of Filipinos trooped to the consulate when overseas voting kicked off on Sunday, April 10, but were dismayed that precincts closed early.

The consulate had cited strict compliance with COVID-19 measures as the reason why voting ended early on Sunday. 

After encountering logistical delays, the Philippine consulate in New York received its delivery of vote-counting machines, ballots, and other election paraphernalia on the morning of Monday, April 11 (New York time).
“As promised, we will start the process of getting the ballots to overseas voters in the United States northeast as early as later this afternoon,” Consulate General Elmer Cato told Rappler when the materials arrived.

The consulate’s Facebook page later in the day posted that the first batch of overseas ballots would be sent out in the evening.

The Philippine embassy in Singapore acknowledged an incident on Monday, April 11, in which a voter was given a spoiled ballot from the day prior, when overseas absentee voting for the 2022 elections kicked off. 

“This was subsequently recorded in the official OVF No. 11-A (minutes of voting for automated election system voting posts),” the embassy said in a statement. “We wish to stress that this was an isolated incident.”

Read more.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) sounded the alarm against supposed exit polls that are going viral on social media after Filipinos overseas began casting their ballots for the 2022 elections.

“As a general rule, unless the entity that came out with the exit poll is a known and reputable survey firm, it is not reliable. It is easy to create official-looking forms or graphics that seem legitimate on social media,” Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said on Twitter on Monday, April 11.

“Remember that overseas voting [ballots] will only be counted on May 9, after the close of the polls,” he added.

More here.

Filipino voters under the jurisdiction of at least six embassies and consulates will have to wait past the first day of overseas voting, Sunday, April 10, before they can exercise their right to vote in the 2022 elections due to logistical challenges, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced on Sunday.

Voters under the jurisdiction of the following posts will start voting at a later date “due to logistical difficulties encountered in the shipment of election materials”:

• Philippine embassy in Wellington, New Zealand
• Philippine embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan
• Philippine embassy in Dili, Timor Leste
• Philippine consulate in Milan, Italy
• Philippine consulate in New York, USA

The Comelec also postponed voting in Shanghai, China, due to a COVID-19 surge.

More here.