MARAWI CITY (MindaNews/03 June) – Special elections will be held today in 215 clustered precincts in four provinces, three of them in Mindanao, which experienced failure of elections on May 10.
According to Comelec Resolution 8965 promulgated May 28, 2010, the special elections will be held in two clustered precincts in Barangay Buenos Aires, Pagsanghan, Western Samar; three in Glan, Sarangani; four in Brgy. Lower Mahayahay all in Maluso, Basilan; 20 in eight barangays in Al Barka, Basilan, and 190 in seven Lanao del Sur towns.
The results of today’s polls in Lanao del Sur will decide the winner of the congressional polls in the 2nd district of Lanao del Sur and other municipal officials. Governor Mamintal Adiong has been proclaimed reelected, as he got a huge lead over rival Omar Ali and the total number of votes where election failed can no longer affect the results.
Lanao’s Acting Provincial Election Supervisor Atty. Josllyn Demesa announced Wednesday that they were just awaiting the arrival of the members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) who, in this case, will be police trainees form Region 10, 11 and 12, before testing and sealing the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines.
The military and police, Demesa said, have “organized well the augmentation and deployment of their troops to secure the conduct of special elections here in the province.”
Demesa noted that the manner of voting, counting and canvassing is still the same except for the transmission of results. “Because of the lack of signal in some of the towns, the transmission of results will probably happen in the Provincial Capitol gym where the canvassing will be conducted, Demesa said.
Voters will troop to 190 clustered precincts in the towns of Sultan Dumalondong (11 clustered precincts), Lumba Bayabao (38), Masiu (35), Tubaran (22), Lumbaca Unayan (9), Marogong (26) and Bayang (49).
Voting is scheduled at 7 a.m. until 6 in the evening but ABS-CBN reported that voting has not started in Lanao del Sur as of 7:45 a.m. (MindaNews)