Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 11) — The Commission on Elections on Monday cautioned the public against unofficial results of exit polls circulating online.
On the same day, the camp of presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. boasted of securing majority of votes of overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong and Qatar during the first day of overseas absentee voting on Sunday.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez reiterated that an exit poll is not an official tally.
“Tandaan din na bibilangin lang ang mga boto ng Overseas Voting on May 9, AFTER the close of polls. As a general rule, unless na ang nag labas ng exit poll ay isang kilala at reputable na survey firm, hindi ito reliable. Lalo na sa social media, madaling gumawa ng official looking forms or graphics na mukhang legit,” the poll body official said in a series of tweets.
[Translation: Keep in mind that we will count the votes from overseas on May 9, after the polls close. As a general rule, it is not reliable unless the exit poll result is released by a reputable survey firm. It’s easy to make official-looking forms or graphics that look legitimate.]
The overseas absentee voting opened on April 10. More than 1.69 million Filipino voters can pick their president, vice president, senators, and a party-list group of choice.
However, overseas voting will start at a later date in Wellington, New Zealand; Shanghai, China; Islamabad, Pakistan; Dili, Timor-Liste; Milan, Italy; and New York, USA due to logistical issues or COVID-19 lockdown.
