Press Release
April 26, 2016

BONGBONG MARCOS TO COMELEC: SEPARATE VOTE RECEIPTS WITH DISCREPANCIES

Vice Presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos, Jr. today urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to separate vote receipts with discrepancy complaints for reference in case the voter decides to file a case before the poll body.

Marcos made the statement in the light of the continuing silence of the poll body on the issues raised with respect to the reported discrepancies in vote receipts in the Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV).

"We have raised this issue a week ago and this was reported in the news and widely discussed in social media but until now the Comelec has not issued any definitive statement on this serious allegation that could put a cloud of doubt on the results of the May 9 elections," Marcos asserted.

Marcos pointed out that the Comelec should now issue guidelines on the vote receipts to address possible issues that could arise as shown in the ongoing OAV. He suggested that the Comelec should separate vote receipts with reported discrepancies and if possible let the voter sign the receipt for proper marking.

He said separating the vote receipts with supposed discrepancies would properly guide the poll body and the voter in case complaints will be pursued on the matter.

"The continuing silence of Comelec on these issues is alarming. Why is it that until now we have not heard anything from the Chairman or their spokesperson on what they are doing about these allegations? There should be proper guidelines on this as I have already been repeatedly telling the Comelec to address possible complaints or concerns because they cannot just say "noted" to all complaints. That is unfair to all our voters," Marcos stressed.

As early as April 20, Marcos had issued a statement asking the poll body to probe alleged discrepancies in the OAV, noting a complaint of an OFW in Hong Kong who claimed to have voted for him but the receipt indicated the vote was credited for Sen. Gregorio Honasan.

Marcos noted that he also received reports of similar incidents in Kuwait, Dubai and Japan. He added that Vice President Jejomar Binay, standard bearer of the United Nationalist Alliance, also complained of similar incidents.

He warned that unless the poll body can show the Filipino people that they are doing everything to avert any possible scheme to tamper with the election process, the credibility of the results of the May 9 elections could suffer.

"Taken together all these factors paint a worrisome scenario of possible cheating in the May 9 elections. The Comelec must do something about this immediately to allay any suspicions of a coordinated scheme to undermine the will of the Filipino people," Marcos concluded.

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