MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc – sitting as the National Plebiscite Board of Canvassers – suspended the canvassing of votes for the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) in Cotabato City.
The session was suspended on Thursday when Chairman Sheriff Abas ordered the Tabulation Committee to get the certificates of canvass (COCs) and supporting documents for the tabulation results after commissioners Luie Guia and Rowena Guanzon raised discrepancies on the number of voters.
“After which, these documents will undergo audit to ensure corrections of the tabulation and addition,” Abas told reporters.
Guia noted the inconsistency in the “Yes” votes numbering to 36,682 and “No” votes with 24,994 as these figures do not match the written number of actual voters in the COC.
“The total number of voters who actually voted reflected in this document says 39,027. But if you total the votes obtained by yes and no, it would certainly be more than 39,027,” he added.
On the other hand, Guanzon said the Statement of Votes only shows 22,507 “No” votes.
“Looking at the COC for ‘No’ votes, it states that there are 24,994… then you are lacking around 2,400 votes,” she added.
For his part, Cotabato City acting election officer Romel Rama explained that the errors came from the incomplete entries in the plebiscite returns submitted to the City Plebiscite Board of Canvassers by the Plebiscite Committees.
OVER 1.8M VOTED IN 1ST PLEBISCITE
More than 1.8 million people from seven areas in Mindanao participated in the first BOL plebiscite, Comelec said on Friday.
According to Comelec spokesman James Jimenez, a total of 1,844,873 out of 2,167,244 registered voters cast their votes in Monday’s plebiscite, which translates to a voter turnout of 85.13 percent.
He added that the highest individual voter turnouts were recorded in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur with 93.35 percent and 92.56 percent, respectively.
Basilan had 81.98 percent while Sulu recorded 80.28 percent.
Tawi-Tawi had the lowest voter turnout among the provinces of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), at 77.17 percent.
The cities of Cotabato and Isabela have tallied 54.22 percent and 58.70 percent, respectively. (With reports from PNA/PN)
