By Jel Santos
After talking to Commission on Elections (Comelec) officials at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), former vice president Jojo Binay was successfully able to feed his new ballot into the new vote counting machine (VCM) at San Antonio National High School (SANHS), about two hours after his first ballot was rejected.
(PHOTO BY HANNAH TABIOS/ MANILA BULLETIN)
Binay’s first attempt to cast his vote failed when he came to his polling precinct at around 7 a.m. His ballot was previously rejected eight times by the VCM.
But at around 9 a.m., Binay, who is running for first district congressman of Makati, returned to his precinct, was given a new ballot and was able to finally cast his vote.
The VCM at his polling precinct, which was located on the third floor of the said school, was replaced after it “bogged down.”
Jina Iligan, SANHS principal, said Comelec Central ordered them to give the former vice president a new ballot.
“His first ballot was rejected. The Comelec Central was the one who decided to give him a new ballot,” she said after Binay cast his vote.
“The VCM was replaced after it bogged down because of paper jam,” the principal added.
Iligan said that the first ballot of Binay was crossed out in order for it not to be used again.
The Binay patriarch said that he was elated because he was able to personally feed his vote into the VCM.
Before heading to PICC, Binay told the media that he should be the one to cast his ballot, and not the election officers at his polling precinct.
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