Press Statement May 17, 2019, 18:30H
NAMFREL expresses alarm over the video circulating in social media that appears to confirm previous anecdotal reports of ballot pre-shading. The video provides evidence that ballot pre-shading is real and may be happening in some parts of the country. Even more alarming is that the video is being dismissed by certain quarters, reasoning that it has been done in past elections in areas where political families hold sway or in areas where there are few or no watchers.
The slow response in replacing failed vote counting machines and/or corrupted SD cards may have also opened up the opportunity for some parties to engage in ballot pre-shading.
NAMFREL calls on the Commission on Elections to get to the bottom of the recorded ballot shading incident instead of suspecting that the uploader is out to undermine the integrity and credibility of the election results. The COMELEC should put a stop to this practice. ###
