TECHNICAL glitches plagued the opening hours of voting yesterday. Widespread reports of paper jams slowing the feeding of the ballots into the Vote Counting Machines (VCMs) contributed to the slowing of the voting process and causing long lines of voters waiting their turn, a poll body watch group observed.
In a phone interview this afternoon with Nestor Banuag Jr., National Movement for Free Elections Cagayan de Oro-Misamis Oriental coordinator, confirmed that there were indeed incidents of VCMs jamming and that one probable cause was that the paper used for the ballots were thicker than what was previously used.
However, a simple but unorthodox fix was found when the technicians found that if tilted, the VCMs functioned fine and they used whatever on hand materials like a piece of wood or sticks to prop them up.
“Sa sugod ra man naay issue sa paper jam, pero ni okay na man dayon,” he daid.
With regard to unverified reports of voters complaining that the receipts they received had different names from who they voted for, Banuag said: “ Naa mi isa ka report na dawatan ana, but dili man namo ma verify. Kinahanglan man gud maka kuha ta og proof.”
Allegations of VCMs printing different names from what the voter selected, as well as alleged widespread paper jams, made the rounds on social media.
Facebook posts of users coming from within Region 10 claim that VCMs were not printing the names of who they voted and several VCMs had issues with jamming and not reading the ballots.
This correspondent tried to get a statement from the Commission on Elections-10 regarding these allegations, but Asst. Director Atty. Maria Dulce Cuevas-Banzon is unable to give a statement as only the Regional Director and spokespersons are authorized to field questions for the office, as relayed by Brylle Kester C. Palad, a Comelec-10 employee.
Regional Director Atty. Francisco G. Pobe is unavailable as he is currently at Ozamiz City, and the two spokespersons, Atty. Joseph Hamilton C. Cueva and Atty. Gina Luna Zayas-Sabio are in Bukidnon and Oroquieta City, respectively.