Cotabato city: The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has exceeded its prediction of an 80 percent voter turnout in Monday's inaugural Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary elections (BPE). 'We are pleased that voter turnout was very high, averaging 80 to 81 percent - consistent with our prediction. This means that despite some incidents of violence, our fellow citizens did not let that stop them from voting, even immediately after such incidents occurred,' Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia said in an interview on Tuesday.
According to Philippines News Agency, Garcia noted that this translates to 1.9 million voters out of the region's 2,392,202 registered voters. At the same time, he noted that they expect to proclaim all winning candidates before midnight Tuesday. 'After the regional board of canvassers finishes canvassing two areas, we expect the canvassing for Maluso to conclude, since voting there began this morning and ends at 7 p.m. Hopefully, the canvassing wraps up by 8:30 p.m., and every precinct in Maluso is able to transmit its results,' he said.
Voting in Maluso, Basilan resumed after more than 16,000 replacement official ballots arrived in the town on Tuesday. On Monday, the Comelec placed Maluso under its control after poll officials discovered 16,653 pre-shaded ballots in 36 of the 69 clustered precincts. 'More or less, before midnight tonight, we should be able to proclaim all the winning regional political parties and sectoral organizations for the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections. This means we will wrap up the election process by tonight,' Garcia added.
Earlier, the poll body proclaimed the winning district representatives of Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, and the Special Geographic Area. 'In Cotabato City, only nine ERs (election returns) are waiting to be transmitted electronically. 98.41 percent as of this moment, ERs have been received from polling precincts throughout the Bangsamoro. The election was that fast because only last night, all political parties, sectoral organizations, or district representatives know who had won,' he said.
Meanwhile, Garcia reminded winning and losing BPE candidates to submit their respective Statements of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCEs) on Oct. 14, one month after the polls. 'We still have the submission of the SOCE. That SOCE needs to be submitted, and we are expecting them to do so,' he said.
On the other hand, the Comelec chief added that for the first time, candidates will be allowed to submit electronic SOCE (eSOCE). 'This is the first time the eSOCE will be used. There is no longer a need to submit hard copies or multiple sets of documents; only the eSOCE, which is accessible to the public, is required,' he said.
'It allows the public to see who the donors are, the amounts involved, and how the funds were spent - all the information is contained in the eSOCE. This system was developed with the assistance of the United Nations Development Program.'
