MANILA — Less than a week before Election Day, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday reminded the electorate, particularly youth voters, not to doodle on the ballots so these would not be considered invalid.
Comelec Spokesman James Jimenez advised the public not to put any marking — emojis, hearts, or emoticons — on their ballots.
“Our message, especially to our youth: Do not draw on the ballots. Do not sign it with a smiley,” Jimenez said in an interview.
“We’re advising young voters not to mark ballots in any way, like hashtags, smiley face, hearts. Please avoid it because your ballots may be invalidated,” the poll body official added.
Jimenez noted that other markings on the ballots may block the Board of Election Tellers (BETs) capability to correctly read the name of the candidates.
“Because it’s a manual election, there are many variables in being able to interpret the ballots, such as legibility of the handwriting and cleanliness of the ballot,” he explained.
The manual election system will be used in Monday’s polls, where voters have to right down the names of the candidates on blank spaces.
On May 14, voters will be electing eight officials each for the Barangay and the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) — one chairman and seven kagawads each. (PNA)
