Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Andres Bautista announced on Wednesday (May 11) that special elections will be held in five areas around the country.
Bautista did not specify where the special polls will be held but Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said some of them will be in precincts that were unable to hold elections due to misdelivery of ballots, several of them in Borongan, Eastern Samar and Hinigaran, Negros.
She said no elections also were held as scheduled in Binidayan, Lanao del Sur, because the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) did not show up.
Overall, about 20,000 voters were not able to vote on May 9, she said.
Guanzon said canvassing in Maguindanao will resume on Wednesday after it was interrupted by some supporters of a local candidate of the United Nationalist Alliance who allegedly prevented the delivery of memory cards to the canvassing center. The memory cards taken from the vote counting machines contain the results of the voting in a particular precinct.
Election results from some clustered precincts in the provinces of Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, and Lanao del Sur also are expected to be transmitted soon. These precincts were unable to immediately transmit the results electronically in accordance with election day protocols.
According to Bautista, about 96.85 percent of the election results nationwide have been electronically transmitted.
Bautista said this is more than the 90 percent electronically transmitted in 2010 and 76 percent in 2013.
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NBOC continues to open COCs for Senate, party list groups
The National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) continues to open certificates of canvass (COC) for the official results of senatorial and party list races.
It wasn’t immediately certain how many of the 165 COCs that should be received by the NBOC have already reached the Comelec hub at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).
However, officials said more than 50 COCs have already been opened, reviewed, and accepted by the NBOC at the PICC by noon Wednesday (May 11).
The canvassed results from these COCs, including local and overseas absentee votes, will be the official results for the national polls.
The official results for the positions of president and vice president will be counted during a joint session of Congress.
CNN Philippines’ JC Gotinga contributed to this report.
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