DepEd logs over 600 election-related incidents

The Department of Education (DepEd) Election Task Force (ETF), which ran a 24/7 command center in Makati from May 11 to May 13, recorded 603 election-related reports on Tuesday.

DepEd said the most common issues reported involved machines malfunctioning, irregularities in ballots and receipts, and voter list concerns.

Most reports came from Region IX, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), and the National Capital Region (NCR), according to DepED.

Although most of the problems were solved by their regional and division ETF counterparts, the department said some cases were endorsed to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for appropriate action.

On Monday, similar complaints from netizens regarding ballot and receipt mismatch, missing names and precincts, and rejection of ballots have surfaced online.

Comelec Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia dismissed claims of ballot and receipt mismatch, stating that there is no evidence to support such allegations. He added that voters might have simply forgotten who they voted for.

On the rejected ballots, Mr. Garcia said that damage to the ballot’s timing marks could result in being ejected by the machine.

Despite the logged reports, the DepEd, Comelec, and other government agencies claimed that the midterm election was “largely peaceful.”

“We can say that overall, the elections were conducted smoothly,” Undersecretary Malcolm S. Garma, chair of the DepEd ETF, said in a press release.

Out of the 758,549 poll workers during the midterm elections, over 660,000 DepEd personnel were deployed to ensure safe, fair, and orderly elections in thousands of polling precincts nationwide.

“These are not just public servants,” Education Secretary Juan Edgardo “Sonny” M. Angara said. “They are frontliners of democracy.” – Almira Louise S. Martinez