PNP: Voter turnout in WV at 79.11%

CLOSE to 80 percent of the voting population in Western Visayas exercised their right to vote on May 13, 2019.

Records from the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) showed that 3,804,183 of the 4,808,839 registered voters (79.11 percent turnout) cast their ballots.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has yet to confirm the official voter turn out.

Lawyer Jose Nick Mendros, Comelec-6 regional election director, earlier pegged the voter turnout at 80 – 85 percent.

“But close to 80 percent is still a good number,” Mendros said 

He also noted minor glitches that happened during the election.

The Regional Election Monitoring Action Center (REMAC) said that 192 vote counting machines (VCMs) malfunctioned but these were all addressed by the Comelec.

A total of 7,109 VCMs were used in Western Visayas and “the 192 VCMs represent 2.7 percent. It’s a negligible number. Lahat naman ng nag-malfunction were replaced yesterday,” he added.

Mendros said 600 contingency VCMs were deployed all over the region.

As such, the 192 VCMs that have malfunctioned did not affect the overall flow of the election. 

Most of the VCMs that malfunctioned were in Negros Occidental with 101; Iloilo, 21; Antique and Capiz, 20; Aklan, 19; and Guimaras, 11.

The Comelec has also reported 90 defective SD cards, which delayed the declaration of winners in some areas.

“90 of the 14,218 SD cards were found defective, they caused delay in the transmission,” he said.

Half of the defective cards were reported in Iloilo with 46; Negros Occidental, 31; Guimaras, 12; and Capiz, 1.

SD cards used in Aklan and Antique ran smoothly.

“The election was generally successful except may problema sa SD cards but we are hoping to proclaim all winners in the soonest time possible,” he said.