Claim: Fully-shaded ovals on one side of a ballot can blot or groove on the other side, causing invalidated or incorrect casting of votes.

Rating: FALSE

Context:

On May 5, 2022, certain posts on social media warned that a fully shaded oval for Kabataan Partylist would inadvertently shade the oval corresponding to vice presidential candidate Sara Duterte (#95Kabataan Partylist, 2022). A fully shaded oval for this party-list group on the back side of the ballot would reportedly blot or groove (“bakat”) on the other side of the page where the vice presidential candidates are listed. This would allegedly cause the votes for Vice President to be either invalidated or incorrectly cast.

Marañon (2002) stressed that it is impossible for fully shaded circles to invalidate a vote or inadvertently cast a vote for another candidate. The ovals on both sides of the ballot are deliberately not aligned. Because of this, even if the ink blots or grooves, it would not be able to shade an oval on the other side.

References:

• #95Kabataan Partylist [@KabataanPL]. (2022, May 5). FAKE NEWS ALERT: Panloloko sa posisyon sa balota ng Kabataan Partylist May mga screenshot na umiikot online na sinasabing ang [Tweet, attached image]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/KabataanPL/status/1522087223209824257
• Marañon, E. [@13thFool]. (2022, May 5). We are currently experiencing a vicious black ops DISCOURAGING voters to FULLY SHADE the ovals of our candidates. Allegedly, tatagos [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/13thFool/status/1522029342091472896