Voters who make errors in marking their official ballots would not be issued replacements to prevent electoral fraud and maintain the integrity of the voting process, an official of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has said.
In an interview by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), Baco Municipal Election Officer Reny A. Pagilagan emphasized that under COMELEC Resolution No. 11076, each voter is entitled to only one official ballot—regardless of accidental mistakes made while filling it out.
“If it is the fault of the voter, we will not reissue another one,” Pagilagan said, adding that “the ballot will not be counted.”
Pagilagan clarified that exceptions are made only in rare circumstances where the ballot is damaged due to machine-related issues and not voter negligence.
“For instance, if a ballot gets jammed inside the machine and is accidentally torn during retrieval, that’s not the voter’s fault,” he said.
But he said, “In such a case, the Electoral Board will label the spoiled ballot as ‘rejected with replacement’ and issue a new one.”
However, most issues encountered by electoral officials, Pagilagan noted, stem from voter’s errors including mishandling, improper shading or compromising the QR code printed on the ballot.
“Sometimes, especially with first-time or indigenous voters, the QR code gets smudged or the ballot gets creased while feeding it into the machine,” he said.
He underscored that “If the machine fails to read it after trying all four orientations, we cannot issue a new ballot because that’s considered the voter’s fault.”
Improper shading, overvoting or markings outside the designated ovals can also render a ballot unreadable by the vote-counting machine.
To avoid such incidents, COMELEC has been actively conducting voter education campaigns in barangays across the province, including demonstrations with the Automated Counting Machines (ACMs). These sessions aim to inform voters about how to properly fill out their ballots to ensure their votes are counted.
Pagilagan also called on the electoral board members to remind voters at the polling stations to handle their ballots carefully and to follow proper voting procedures.
“My appeal to all voters is this: please do not experiment with your ballots. Shade only the oval next to your chosen candidate properly. Let’s ensure your vote is not wasted,” he urged.
COMELEC noted that this policy is part of the country’s continuing effort to ensure transparency and accountability in the democratic process – one ballot at a time. (AS/PIA MIMAROPA-Oriental Mindoro)
