Comelec: Batanes polls’ canvassing results to be sent via messaging app

Batanes provincial capitol (Photo from Facebook / Provincial Government of Batanes) MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will utilize a messaging platform for the canvassing of votes for the special elections in Batanes on November 28. Comelec chairperson George Garcia on Wednesday said this is to enable the quick transmission of results and the proclamation of winner. The poll chief said that the pilot testing of the innovation will be introduced as the poll body considers the weather in Batanes. The province is usually affected by several tropical cyclones. The special elections for the lone district of Batanes will be held following the death of its former House Representative – Ciriaco Gato Jr. READ: 4 bets vying in Batanes special election for vacant congressional seat Garcia pointed out that rough sea conditions in several areas in Batanes occur as early as 2 p.m.. This means that the ballots may not be transferred immediately from barangays to municipalities, or from municipalities to the provincial capitol, where the canvassing will be held. “What we did now is we included in our rules that the municipal board of canvassers [MBOC], for example the municipality of Itbayat, can transmit results through Viber,” the Comelec chief told reporters in an interview. He noted that this will be done with the consent of candidates and their lawyers. “If they agree, it’s like election returns where the [MBOC] with accredited cellphone will send the results to the cellphone of another board of canvassers,” Garcia said. After this, the results “will be canvassed without waiting for the physical copy of the statement of votes,” he explained. The physical copy of the statement of votes will still be delivered for further verification of the results. The Comelec will also hire the services of satellite internet service Starlink for the political exercise. While the special elections will be done manually, Starlink will be used so that there will be proper internet connection for the sending of the results through a messaging platform. For quicker results When asked of Comelec’s legal standing in proposing the innovation, Garcia said that the 1987 Constitution allows the poll body to promulgate rules and guidelines. He said the charter just wants the poll body “to ensure honest, peaceful, orderly, transparent and acceptable election.” Garcia said that faster delivery of results will lead to early proclamation of the winner, without compromising the integrity of the elections. “We believe that if the results are prolonged, the proclamation is delayed, it will raise questions and issues, especially that this is a highly-contested position,” he stressed. The poll body also instructed election officers to convene with the provincial election director of Batanes to discuss the initiative with the candidates. Meanwhile, he said that if the pilot testing becomes successful, the poll body will also apply the same steps in future special elections and plebiscites that are not manual in nature. /apl The post Comelec: Batanes polls’ canvassing results to be sent via messaging app appeared first on Inquirer.net .