ILOILO City – Official ballots for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on May 14 have started reaching clustered voting precincts in Iloilo province.
Provincial Election Supervisor Elizabeth Doronila said they began delivering the ballots on May 3.
The delivery will continue until the 11th – a day before the campaign period ends and two days before election day – Doronila said.
Across the province there are 4,754 clustered precincts for the barangay level and 4,748 for the SK level, Commission on Elections – Iloilo records showed.
Police are escorting election officers to make sure the ballots safely reach the voting precincts, said Doronila.
OLD BALLOTS
Comelec regional director Dennis Ausan previously said the ballots to be used in this year’s elections are the ones printed for the postponed Oct. 23, 2017 polls.
Ausan said voters should not be surprised to see their ballots marked “2017.”
“We have spent millions [printing these ballots],” he said. “Kon indi mo to karon paggamiton kanugon man.”
Moreover the top Comelec official in the region said the number of ballots to be delivered to any geographical area must correspond to the number of registered voters there.
In Iloilo there are 1,413,246 registered barangay voters and 486,261 registered SK voters.
ELECTORAL BOARD
“Electoral boards” will facilitate the electoral exercise in the villages, said Doronila. Each electoral board comprises a chairman, a poll clerk and a third member.
There are 23,000 trained electoral board members – all teachers – in Iloilo province, Doronila said.
They will be at work for two days – during the setup of equipment and ballots on the 13th (Sunday) and on election day on the 14th (Monday) – she said.
Each electoral board member may receive a pay of as much as P7,000, said the provincial election supervisor./PN
