The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has clarified that the “ballot” seen in a TikTok video is not an official ballot.
This came after a netizen asked Comelec Spokesperson James B. Jimenez if the “ballot” in the TikTok video was authentic.
“That is NOT an official ballot. It’s just a sample ballot, based on ballot designs that are available on the COMELEC website, being used for what looks like polling or surveying activities,” Jimenez said on a Twitter post, quoting the query of the netizen.
The poll spokesperson added: “If you don’t want your vote known by anyone, then don’t participate in these surveys.”
When asked by another netizen if printing of Comelec’s sample ballots for survey purposes is allowed, he said “it is not prohibited.”
In the video, a woman can be heard talking to another woman who was asking her to shade the ballot-looking survey form.
The woman conducting the apparent survey said she works for an independent entity, declining to name the person who commissioned the survey.