Two more vote-counting machines malfunction

Consul Paul Saret giving the daily briefing at the Bayanihan yesterday.

Two vote-counting machines (VCMs) malfunctioned yesterday (April 15) at the Bayanihan Centre as Filipinos continued to cast their votes for the midterm elections, a consular official said..

Consul Paul Saret, head of the Philippine Consulate General-Assistance to Nationals Section, said voting went “smoothly” on Monday although two VCMs broke down and one of them had to be replaced.

“May dalawang machines na medyo nag act up, so to speak. Yung isa, nadala sa trouble-shooting. Yung isa, pinalitan ng contingency VCM. After napalitan, it worked throughout the day sa Precinct Four,” Saret said during the daily briefing.

He said Hong Kong’s high humidity might have affected the VCMs. The PCG is getting more VCMs from Manila.

“Humidity siguro ang nagiging factor. Masyadong humid dito sa HK. Sometimes, initially ayaw gumana pero ultimately gumagana rin po,” Saret said.

He said 298 Filipinos cast their votes on Monday, so the total number of votes for the first three days of voting reached 3,709 or 4.24 percent of the 87,441 registered Filipino voters in Hong Kong.

Saret reminded Filipinos that it was illegal to use mobile phones inside the voting precincts after one voter tried to insist that she take a picture of her voter’s receipt.

“Meron tayong kababayan na gustong picturan ang kanyang receipt. Napakiusapan ni Consul Bob Quintin na ito ay bawal under the rules and under the law so napacify naman po,” Saret said.

“Pero una po, she was insistent na gusto niya may evidence ng kanyang binoto,” he said.

Saret said Commission on Election rules prohibit voters from taking a picture of the ballot or the voter’s receipt.

“Alam naman po natin from the very start we’ve been reminding our kababayans here in Hong Kong na kahit saan po bawal picturan ang ating balota or receipt,” he said.

“Kaya panawagan sa ating mga kabayaan na boboto. Huwag na po sana maulit na mag iinsist or kunan ng picture or photo ang receipt ng kanilang pagboto,” he added.