The COMELEC says it has identified suspected culprits in the pre-shading of over 16,500 ballots in Maluso, Basilan, and is building a possible electoral sabotage case that carries life imprisonment.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said at a Sept. 30 forum that the ballots were found pre-shaded in 36 Maluso precincts during the first regular Bangsamoro parliamentary elections. The discovery forced Comelec to stop their distribution and order replacement ballots before voting could proceed in the affected areas.
Under Republic Act No. 9369, certain large-scale forms of vote tampering may constitute electoral sabotage. One statutory category covers other forms of tampering where the total votes involved exceed 10,000. The Comelec has not yet filed an electoral sabotage case over the Maluso incident.
“There might be accusations that we’re just pointing fingers. But we are building an airtight case, because remember, life imprisonment is the penalty [for electoral sabotage],” Garcia said.
Sixteen subpoenas have been issued seeking explanations from officials, including the Maluso mayor, municipal treasurer, election officer and police chief. The provincial police commander and Comelec’s provincial election supervisor were also subpoenaed. Garcia stressed that receiving a subpoena does not establish guilt or automatically make anyone an accused person.
The Comelec is tracing who had ultimate custody of the ballots. Garcia said he believes the pre-shading could not have been carried out by one person and estimated that more than 15 people may have been involved.
The compromised ballots were discovered on Sept. 13, a day before the Sept. 14 election. Comelec placed Maluso under its control and had replacement ballots printed. Voting in the 36 affected precincts proceeded on Sept. 15 after the new ballots arrived.
The incident unfolded during BARMM’s first regular parliamentary election, when more than 2.3 million registered voters were expected to elect representatives to the region’s first regular parliament.
