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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Comelec on pre-shaded ballot claim in Singapore: No report means it's fake news

Comelec on pre-shaded ballot claim in Singapore: No report means it's fake news

Published Apr 11, 2022 05:47 pm

Claims of pre-shaded ballots in Singapore as well as in Dubai during the first day of the overseas voting will be investigated by the newly-formed task force of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on fake news.

Comelec Commissioner George Erwin M. Garcia (Photo courtesy of Comelec FB)

Commissioner George Erwin Garcia, head of the said task force, said during a press briefing on Monday, April 11 that they would be meeting and this claim will be one of the first things that they will investigate.

"Wala po kaming natanggap na report kahit sa ating Post, sa kahit na kaninong official natin dun sa Singapore and therefore fake news po yun (We have not received any report even at our Post, and from any other official there in Singapore and there it's fake news)," Garcia said.

He added that it is very easy for them to countercheck the said information which according to him, is currently circulating around social media. Garcia stated that they have been monitoring the situation of the start of the overseas voting on Sunday, April 10, and no reports of pre-shaded ballots surfaced. The said claim, Garcia stated, should be recorded in the minutes of voting made by poll watchers, and if it's not there, the incident is not considered true.

"The best evidence of what happened during the election on that particular day will always be the minutes of voting...No complaints, no entry in the minutes, therefore no opposition whatsoever," he said.

A certain Cheryl Ab, who is based in Singapore, posted on Facebook that she received a ballot that came pre-shaded. She mentioned the poll watcher informed her that the ballot was voided and the barcode was marked and that the ballot was a spoiled ballot.

Garcia reminded the public not to believe claims regarding pre-shading. Poll watchers and observers, according to him, are stationed at the polling places and it is easy to report instances such as this to them.

On the other hand, he warned against those who are disseminating false information regarding the electoral process. He said that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) can track them whether they are inside the country or not.

"Definitely we will be assigning commissioner Aimee Neri to be in charge of the prosecution of all these individuals," he added.

Related Tags

2022 elections 2022 presidential elections 2022 polls Comelec 2022 national and local polls Commission on Elections (Comelec) 2022 NATIONAL AND LOCAL ELECTIONS Commission on Elections
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