Comelec Butuan all set for Election Day
BUTUAN CITY -- The Commission on Elections (Comelec) Office in this city said on Sunday that they are "all systems go" for the Election Day on Monday, May 9, 2022.
"We are 100% ready. We have already covered everything and we hope we can execute everything we have planned for the past five or six months. We have readied all contingencies if ever there will be some problems in the cluster precincts," Lawyer Sorilla said.
He said that they haven't encountered big challenges or problems so far, other than the easterlies affecting Caraga Region that could bring heavy rains during Election Day.
"We have delivered and deployed all election paraphernalia today. We do not see any problems unless it rains hard tomorrow," the Comelec official said.
"We did the final testing and sealing on May 6. There were five defective VCMs but we immediately replaced them," he said.
A power interruption will also not hamper the voting process since the machines have a standby battery that can last up to 14 hours -- just enough time to cast and transmit the votes," Sorilla said. "Should the transmission of votes become a problem, they are advised to wrap everything up and proceed to the canvassing area for the transmission."
Moreover, security measures are in place in far-flung areas, Sorilla said, adding that Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) personnel are securing precinct perimeters round-the-clock.
Sorilla said although there were delays in their overall preparation due to late delivery of supplies for the isolation polling places (IPPs) and logbooks to be used by field election officers for the registration forms, they have set contingencies to solve the problem.
"We just hope that the community, most especially the voters will just cooperate and obey with the health protocols as well as the procedures implemented inside the polling place," he added. (DMNR/PIA-Caraga)
