Comelec eyes May 20 special elections in Isabela town
Credit to Author: Alexander Magno| Date: Sat, 18 May 2019 11:54:00 +0000
MANILA, Philippines — A special elections may be held possibly on May 20 for Jones, Isabela, the area where a vote-counting machine (VCM) was burned last Tuesday, an official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Saturday.
“Regarding Jones, Isabela, there is a pending recommendation to the commission en banc to hold special elections on May 20. This is yet to be resolved by the commission en banc,” Comelec Director Frances Arabe said in a press conference in the Comelec Command Center in Pasay City.
Arabe said the burned VCM contained 1,000 votes and might affect the results for local candidates and party-list representatives.
“For Jones, Isabela it will affect the standing of local candidates that is why there is a need for special elections,” she said.
READ: Armed men torch VCM, election paraphernalia in Isabela
Meanwhile, for torched VCMs in San Pablo, Zamboanga del Sur, Arabe said Comelec was considering lowering “the threshold” as the VCM contained only 400 votes, which would not affect the local elections there.
“With respect to Zamboanga, the office of regional director is waiting for the request of the election officer to lower the threshold because… In Zamboanga, which is 400 votes will not affect the standing so the request is leaning towards the lowering of the threshold so they can proceed to proclaim,” Arabe said.
On Thursday, a VCM in San Pablo Central Elementary School was torched. Initial investigation showed that the fire was deliberately started with gasoline.
READ: VCM torching, explosion mar Zamboanga del Sur town
(Editor: Alexander T. Magno)
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