Special polls set in 7 Lanao Sur towns, 6 Basilan, Iloilo villages
By Kristine L. Alave
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 20:50:00 05/18/2010
Filed Under: Safety of Citizens, Elections
MANILA, Philippines -- The winners for many national and local races in the May 10 automated polls have been proclaimed, but for a handful of towns in Visayas and Mindanao, the elections hasn't happened yet.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has declared special elections to be held within 30 days in seven Lanao del Sur municipalities and in villages in Basilan, Iloilo, and Western Samar after these areas did not join the nationwide automated elections last May 10.
Comelec commissioner Lucenito Tagle said the election officers in the provinces have been told to prepare for the polls. No date has been set yet, he said.
The elections body, Tagle said, could still use the Precinct Count Optical Scanner machines and the machine-readable ballots in the special elections there.
In a May 14 resolution, the commission en banc declared a failure of elections in the towns of Lumba Bayabao, Lumbaca Unayan, Marogong, Sultan Dumalondong, Tubaran, and Tambuang in Lanao del Sur. The seven municipalities have 71,578 registered voters, according to the Comelec's project of precincts.
The resolution also ordered the holding of special elections in two Basilan villages, with a total voting population of 1,500.
The Comelec resolution said the Board of Election Inspectors in the Lanao del Sur towns did not show up on election day over security fears.
In the two Basilan villages, no elections happened as voters and election workers were harassed by unidentified armed men, the poll body said.
Both provinces are located in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which is considered the election cheating capital of the country.
Aside from the irregularities mentioned that prevented the residents there from voting, Basilan, Lanao del Sur, and other ARMM provinces saw an escalation of election-related violence on May 10.
The Comelec, in another resolution, said special polls should be held in the villages of Buenos Aires, Pagsanghan, Western Samar and Generosa, Guimbal, Iloilo, after the polling center there did not receive the right ballots for the May 10 polls. The polling centers have around 400-500 voters each.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100518-270762/Special-polls-set-in-7-Lanao-Sur-towns-6-Basilan-Iloilo-villages
