Comelec-6: Minor tech issues top poll problems

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

The Commission on Elections declared the conduct of the 2025 midterm elections in the region as generally successful, with only minor technical issues reported and promptly resolved at the precinct level.

“This was successful because we only have minor issues, and it’s mostly technical concerns. As compared to the previous elections, we only have a few reports,” Comelec-6 director Dennis Ausan said.

Ausan said that the reported glitches — such as paper jams, scanner malfunctions, and printing errors — were resolved on-site by DepEd Supervising Officials and Technical Support Staff without the need for escalation to higher offices.

As of Tuesday, fewer than 10 towns across the region had yet to proclaim winners, though voting had already concluded and only post-election administrative work remained.

In Aklan, the Municipal Board of Canvassers in Buruanga faced a more complex technical issue.

Ausan said that while they had successfully transmitted the results to the Provincial Board of Canvassers, an error occurred when generating the Statement of Votes by Precinct due to corruption of the Consolidation and Canvassing System machine.

“They are still finding a solution since the technical problem is advanced,” he said.

The statement of votes will be used as the basis for the issuance of the Certificate of Canvass, which serves as the basis for proclaiming the winning candidates.

Ausan said proclaiming winners without resolving the issue could be considered an illegal proceeding and might invalidate the proclamation.

In Libacao, Aklan, delays were also recorded due to the difficulty in transmitting votes from two remote areas.

Despite these challenges, Ausan said Comelec-6 is aiming to complete all proclamations in the region by Wednesday, May 14.

The Comelec-6 director also noted that the number of areas that required the use of contingency vote-counting machines has dropped significantly this year.

In Iloilo province, for instance, only 14 of the 44 towns needed to deploy backup Automated Counting Machines.

In Iloilo City, the election was generally peaceful, with only minor issues encountered, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Atty. Pinky Jevini Tentativa, chair of Iloilo City’s Board of Canvassers and an election officer of the Comelec, said among the problems experienced were paper jams in the automated counting machines (ACMs).

“It’s really on the voters. Sometimes they insert their ballots into the ACMs at a slant, which causes them to get jammed,” she said.

She also noted issues with regular voters insisting on casting their votes during the early voting hours designated for priority sectors.

“There are some commotions, but we explained to them that the time is exclusive only to the vulnerable sector,” she said.

She added that some individuals insisted on voting early due to work commitments later in the day.

The Comelec had implemented early voting hours from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. for senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and pregnant women.

The measure aimed to allow vulnerable sectors to vote ahead of the general population to avoid long queues and exposure to the midday heat.

Regular voting hours for all other voters were from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

“Hopefully, future elections will adopt the same program for early voting hours,” she said, noting increased voter participation from the priority groups.

Regarding the mall voting program in the city, Comelec reported no major issues and deemed the program a success.

Four malls served as voting centers, accommodating clustered precincts from specific barangays: SM City Iloilo, Festive Walk Iloilo, Robinsons Place Jaro, and Robinsons Place Iloilo.

As for the removal of election paraphernalia, Tentativa said it is the responsibility of the candidates or their parties to take them down five days after election day.