TWO kinds of ballots will be used in the village and youth council elections on May 14, an official of the Commission on Elections said Friday.
“There will be two different kinds of ballots used in the 2018 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections—the barangay ballot and the SK ballot,” wrote Comelec spokesman James Arthur Jimenez in his blog.
He said the barangay ballot would be used by voters aged 18 and up to elect the Punong Barangay and the members—called Kagawad—of the Sangguniang Barangay while the SK ballot would be used by voters aged 15 to 30 who are registered in the SK system.
Traditionally, the Comelec conducts a manual barangay and SK polls since the commission does not need to consolidate votes on a national level.
Voters are to choose one chairman and six barangay council members while young voters will elect their SK chief and six council members.
Jimenez said both the barangay and SK ballots would prominently feature the name of the electoral exercise for which they would be used—the barangay elections and the Sangguniang Kabataan elections, respectively.
He explained the barangay and SK ballots that would be used all over the country, except in Mindanao, would bear the date “October 23, 2017,” because these ballots were printed in 2017, supposedly for use in the polls scheduled for that year.
“Unfortunately, the law postponing the 2017 BSKE was enacted only after all the ballots had already been printed,” said Jimenez.
“Ballots bound for Mindanao, however, are still being printed and will bear the correct date—May 14, 2018. These ballots were not printed in 2017, since the Comelec had promptly declared the suspension of elections in Mindanao as a consequence of the imposition of martial law in that part of the country,” he added.
Jimenez reminded voters that both barangay and SK ballots would contain the following instructions: “Fill out the ballot secretly, using a ballot secrecy folder. Do not put any distinctive mark on any part of this ballot.”
“Preserving the secrecy of the voter’s ballot is an essential part of the right of suffrage as it protects the voter from undue influence and from reprisals. This is the same reason why the Comelec prohibits the use of any means to duplicate the filled-out ballot, including photography—yes, even cellphone photography,” he said.
Jimenez also reminded that putting a “distinctive mark” meant making the filled-out ballot identifiable in any way.
“This includes making small tears to the paper, writing anything on the ballot other than the names of the candidates being voted for, or otherwise ensuring that the ballot can be distinguished from all other ballots in the ballot box. This prohibition—which includes the drawing of hearts, smiley faces, stars and the like—is still intended to protect the secrecy of the individual’s vote.”
He added if any name appeared on the ballot in excess of the number of positions being contested, that name would be considered a stray vote and would not be counted.
Under Comelec Resolution 10248, voters in the National Capital Region, Luzon and Visayas Regions will be using the 59,578,346 official ballots which were printed from Aug. 9, 2017 to Sept. 30, 2017.
New and additional ballots, accountable and non-accountable forms will also be printed for those who registered from Nov. 6, 2017 to Nov. 30, 2017.