Comelec assures solutions to problems encountered in mock polls

MANILA – An official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said they will find solutions to problems encountered during the mock polls held on Wednesday in some areas of the country.

In a Laging Handa briefing Thursday, Elaiza Sabile-David, director of the Comelec Education and Information Department (EID), said among the concerns that were raised during the activity are the feeding of the ballot into the machine and long queues.

“We noticed in areas where there were many participated, the problems we’ve seen involved ballot feeding, queuing. So maybe that should also be addressed because on the day of the election, there is more to it, there are more people that will participate,” she added.

David, meanwhile, said she is certain that the Comelec will come up with guidelines as far as the health protocols are concerned for next year’s polls.

“That is probably a system that should really be improved, especially since we have to maintain your distance, unlike the previous elections which were not included in our protocols during the election. We took note of that problem and the Comelec will definitely discuss and we will be coming up with the protocol or guidelines on how to address that problem,” she added.

She also said there were no discrepancies in the transmission result.

“So there is no discrepancy, those who actually voted are 390 out of that 400 that we expect for the mock election. That 786, that's the actual total number of registered voters, the real number in that clustered precinct,” she added.

The mock polls were held in the cities of Pasay and Taguig and the municipality of Pateros, and the provinces of Isabela, Albay, Negros Oriental, Leyte, Maguindanao and Davao del Sur.

On Wednesday, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the activity which was conducted in preparation for the May 2022 polls, was a success.

It simulated the election process from voting to the canvassing of votes. (PNA)