By Joseph B.A. Marzan
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) Iloilo City office said it is ready to bring out election paraphernalia in time for the 2022 national and local elections on May 9, 2022.
Election Assistant II Jonathan Sayno told Aksyon Radyo Iloilo that ballots and vote counting machines (VCM) have arrived in the city and are awaiting deployment based on the schedule given by the central office in Manila.
These ballots are in the custody of the City Treasurer at the City Comelec Bodega or warehouse in Molo district, according to a press release dated April 28.
The VCMs will be deployed on May 6, and final testing and sealing will be conducted by teachers, who are members of the Electoral Boards, on May 7.
“Our official ballots and VCMs are here. The VCMs will be deployed to voting centers on May 6, because the final testing and sealing day [of VCMs] will be on May 7. These VCMs will be needed together with the ballot boxes and peripherals,” Sayno said.
The final testing and sealing, according to Sayno, will include a mock election where the public can try the electoral process for themselves.
If the machines are working effectively and without defects, they will be sealed along with the box, and will only be opened on election day.
Polling centers will open 6 a.m. Monday, and will be closed at 7:00 p.m., after which results will be transmitted to the Board of Canvassers and copies of election returns will be released to authorized partners for the unofficial count.
Canvassing will be done online, with electronic transmission to the Board of Canvassers, and Secure Digital (SD) cards containing election data to be physically delivered by the Electoral Board members to the City Board of Canvassers at the Diamond Jubilee Hall in Iloilo City.
The board is expecting 505 election returns, one for each precinct, reflecting 330,470 registered voters in the city according to COMELEC data.
Proclamation of local candidates will follow, after all the results have been tallied.
