As the national and local midterm elections start as early as 5 in the morning today, May 12, complaints of problems and violations also flood, with many claiming that some of their votes were voided because of “over-voting.”

Makabayan Senatorial Candidate Alyn Andamo, in a press release, said that her vote for party-list was not considered by the automated counting machine (ACM) for reason of “overvoting,” this despite her shading only one party-list group.

This was also the case of a Bulatlat reporter whose vote for partylist was not recorded because of “overvoting.”

Meanwhile, a voter in a precinct in Tomas Morato Elementary School in Quezon City said that his vote for district representative was not credited for the same reason.

“It is common sense that we only vote for one (Representative). I was very careful not to smudge the ballot and to overvote, still, that’s what appeared in the receipt for my vote,” he said.

In all cases, the election officer admitted that they could not do anything about the case except to record it in their documentation or, at most, check the ballots after the polling closes.

Carla Pia Gonzales, electoral board chairperson of the precinct in Tomas Morato Elementary School, however, said that it will still be difficult for them to identify the right ballot since the ballots have no serial numbers, and in her particular precinct, there are 700 registered voters. 

Andamo said that these incidents show the need for a hybrid election setup to minimize errors and possible electoral fraud. 

“If the counting is manual, then “my vote” would definitely be counted,” she said.

Another violation is the presence of members of the Philippine National Police in the perimeter of polling places. As per Omnibus Election Code Sec. 261(s), members of security or police organizations wearing their uniform or bearing arms are prohibited from loitering near polling places unless specifically authorized by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

There were also cases where volunteers for candidates and party-list groups were giving out sample ballots to voters within and around polling places. With reports from Bulatlat staff and volunteers