Push Admin

'You had one job': Comelec flagged for ballot surrender option during VCM breakdown

Article (news)

Jauhn Etienne Villaruel, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Poll workers prepare election equipment at the Kiamba Central Elementary School in Sarangani province on May 9, 2022. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/05/09/20220509-election-day-sarangani-gc-3.jpg"/><figcaption>Poll workers prepare election equipment at the Kiamba Central Elementary School in Sarangani province on May 9, 2022. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA — Some voters and social media users on Monday called out the Commission on Elections (Comelec) over the options it offered to voters who encountered vote-counting machine (VCM) glitches on election day.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/09/22/reports-of-vcm-glitches-power-outage-mar-start-of-halalan2022">Reports of VCM glitches, power outage mar start of Halalan2022</a></li></ul>The Philippines is holding its national and local elections from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. But just over an hour after polls opened, some voters took to social media to complain about malfunctioning VCMs, which forced some to surrender their accomplished ballots to the electoral board for a “batch feeding” later on. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/09/22/philippines-holds-historic-first-national-election-in-pandemic">Philippines holds &#x27;historic&#x27; first national election in pandemic</a></li></ul>Even Barry Gutierrez, the spokesperson of presidential candidate Leni Robredo, encountered a similar VCM issue in his precinct.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">I was in line to vote at 5:30 am. Now they&#x27;re telling us may problema daw sa VCM and we should just come back. Walang oras na binigay. Ano na ito <a href="https://twitter.com/COMELEC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@COMELEC</a>?— Barry Gutierrez (@barrygutierrez3) <a href="https://twitter.com/barrygutierrez3/status/1523439598827077632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 8, 2022</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div>&quot;I was in line to vote at 5:30 a.m. Now they&#x27;re telling us may problema daw sa VCM and we should just come back. Walang oras na binigay. Ano na ito Comelec?&quot; Gutierrez tweeted. (No schedule was given. What is this, Comelec?) Under Comelec&#x27;s rules, a voter has 2 options when the VCM in their precinct malfunctions.1) Proceed in casting their votes and sign a waiver of their right to be issued a voter&#x27;s receipt. Their accomplished ballots would then be batch-fed by the electoral board before the close of polls.2) Wait for the VCM to be replaced or the issue to be resolved before casting their votes. &quot;Reports of delayed precinct opening, malfunctioning VCMs, and voters being asked to leave their ballots unread (by the machine)... Not a great start to Halalan 2022! Election integrity will be key to way forward once results are out. You had one job, Comelec!&quot; political analyst Cleve Arguelles said in a tweet.But Comelec acting spokesman John Rex Laudiangco explained that batch feeding of ballots was nothing new. &quot;Mga kababayan hindi po ito first time, nangyari na ito sa mga nakaraang eleksyon at wala naman po tayong nabalitaang aberya sa batch feeding,&quot; he said in a press conference. (This is not the first time, this happened in previous elections and no problems were reported with batch feeding.) He added that poll watchers and even the voters themselves can witness the batch feeding of ballots once a new and functioning machine arrives in the precinct. As of 10:27 a.m. Monday, about 1,867 VCM issues have already been reported to Comelec, according to commissioner George Garcia.

Several voters called out the Comelec over its options for voters when a VCM breaks down on election day.

'You had one job': Comelec flagged for ballot surrender option during VCM breakdown

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

Traffic

Manila

Horoscope

News

'You had one job': Comelec flagged for ballot surrender option during VCM breakdown

Jauhn Etienne Villaruel,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 09, 2022 11:48 AM PHT

|

Updated May 09, 2022 03:29 PM PHT

Read More:

Comelec

Commission on Elections

pandemic election

halalan2022

Halalan 2022

Philippine elections

eleksyon

eleksyon 2022

polls

presidential race

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.