By JEN BAYLON
The May 12 midterm elections in the Negros Island Region (NIR) saw an impressive voter turnout, underscoring the active participation of the electorate in the democratic process.
According to Jossil Macute, assistant regional director of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in NIR, the voter turnout was notably high across the provinces.
The highest turnout was recorded in Siquijor, with 91.84 percent, after 81,404 voters cast their ballots on Monday.
Negros Occidental logged an 83.22 percent turnout (1,369,632 voters), while Negros Oriental saw an 85.23 percent turnout (831,963 voters).
Macute declared the elections in NIR a success, with an “eight out of 10 score,” attributing this to the overall smooth conduct of the polls and swift proclamation of winning candidates.
Despite the success, some challenges were noted, including blurred ballots in some precincts that machines could not read and other minor technical issues, highlighting areas for improvement in ballot quality and processing systems.
Meanwhile, Comelec-NIR Director Lionel Marco Castillano attributed the higher turnout to positive changes to the voting processes, such as early voting for vulnerable sectors from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., and longer voting hours.
The Comelec-NIR also faced unique challenges in the polls, such as contingency planning for the potential eruption of Kanlaon Volcano on election day.
Coordination with disaster response agencies ensured alternative voting centers were prepared to maintain voter participation despite these risks.
Peaceful
Castillano said the midterm elections in NIR were generally peaceful despite recording isolated violent incidents, including a shooting in Negros Occidental’s Silay City, which resulted in two casualties.
He said the incident was possibly election-related as a barangay official was involved, but police are still conducting further investigation.
Meanwhile, the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) said the recent polls were conducted in a “generally peaceful” manner, based on their assessment.
No major incidents were recorded that could have disrupted the electoral process, BCPO Director Colonel Joeresty Coronica said.
This was due to the successful collaboration among law enforcement authorities, Comelec, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine Coast Guard, and other concerned agencies.
Coronica said the peaceful conduct was also attributed to intensified inspections at polling centers, Comelec checkpoints, electoral recorrida, social media engagement, public information drives against criminal activity, and the strict implementation of security measures.
Random manual audit
A total of 21 precincts in Negros Occidental, including capital Bacolod City, will undergo the routine Random Manual Audit (RMA) by Comelec, a process to verify the accuracy of vote counting.
Macute said three of these precincts are from Bacolod, while the remaining 18 are located across Negros Occidental.
In addition, 15 precincts in Negros Oriental will also be subjected to the same manual verification process.
Macute explained that the precincts were selected through a draw-lots system.
He added that he will personally transport the ballots to Metro Manila, where these will be manually counted to ensure that the results from the automated counting machines match the actual votes cast by the electorate.
Given that the process is manual, Macute said the audit may take one to two months to complete.
Comelec Chairperson George Garcia earlier said that the RMA has consistently shown a 99.9 percent accuracy rate between manual and automated results since it was first implemented in the 2010 elections. / With reports from PNA / JB, WDJ