SIX provinces and 34 thirty-four barangays in the National Capital Region are set to hold mock polls next month, according to the Commission on Elections.
In an online press briefing hosted by the National Movement for Free Elections Comelec Deputy Executive Director for Operations Teopisto Elnas said the mock polls will be held in Metro Manila and in the provinces of Isabela, Albay, Negros Oriental, Leyte, Maguindanao, and Davao del Sur.
A total of 4,800 registered voters are set to participate in the mock polls tentatively set December 29.
All participating barangays will have 100 registered voters each, except for two in Pasay City that have 800 voters each.
“This will be an end-to-end demonstration of the entire process and to test how accurate and secure the process is. From opening of voting, consolidation of results, printing of election returns, printing of receipts, and transmission from precinct level to the national board of canvassers,” Elnas said.
“Hopefully, for these mock elections, with our information dissemination efforts, we can maximize and we can achieve our target goals,” Elnas added.
Meanwhile, 63 barangays in North Cotabato are set to cast their votes in the May 2022 polls manually, and only for national positions, according to the Comelec.
In the same briefing, Elnas said registered voters in the 63 barangays that chose to be included in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao will not be able to use the automated elections system as well as vote for local officials.
“What the Comelec will do is they will still participate in the conduct of elections, but they will vote the national candidates only,” said Elnas. “Their system of election will be manual.
They will use the manual ballot, write the name of their candidates.”
Due to the continued threat of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the raffle for the positioning of party-list organizations in official ballots will be done by the Comelec virtually on December 10.
