Comelec Approves in Principle Mall Voting

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Juan Andres Bautista said that mall voting was approved in principle by the commission en banc.

“Kumbaga in principle, the idea of mall voting was approved by the commission, voting 6-1,” he said in a regular press briefing on Tuesday.

He noted that they have yet to decide on the specifics particularly the precincts that will be transferred as well as the malls, where the voting will be conducted.

“Wala pang ibang specifics kumbaga ilan ‘yung mga presinto na ililipat,” Bautista said.

He also revealed that they already have a draft Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the malls as far as the voting in malls is concerned by it is still subject for review by the commissioners and the poll body’s Law Department.

“The draft MOA will be reviewed by the commissioners for comments as well as the law department,” the poll body chief added.

Bautista noted that they also expect the Technical Working Group (TWG), which was created to study the proposal to allow voting in shopping malls, to submit its report next week.

“They will submit a report by next week, Tuesday for our next en banc meeting,” he added.

The poll body will be consulting stakeholders to know their opinions regarding the plan.

Meanwhile, Bautista said the contract for the printing of the official ballots with the National Printing Office (NPO) was approved on Tuesday.

“The contract with the NPO was approved on today (Tuesday) by the en banc,” he said.

According to Christian Robert Lim, the amount that we will be paying to NPO will be deducted from their contract with Smartmatic-Total Information Management, service-provider in the May 2016 national and local polls.

“Based on the contract we pay PhP5.00 for every ballot printed. We’ll be using the cannon printers of NPO. There are three printers there and then we will be paying an additional PhP5.60 for the use of the ink and other consumables,” he explained.

The Comelec is looking to print over 50 million ballots. (PNA) LGI/FGP/EDS