Failures and errors of vote-counting machines (VCMs) continue to be prevalent on Election Day, Monday, May 9, reports to Kontra Daya have shown.

Paper jams and rejected ballots are common errors faced by voters. In some areas, machines have fully broken down, resulting in massive delays in voting as it can take upwards of 3 hours or even more for a machine to be replaced.

According to the guidelines set by COMELEC, if the vote-counting machine breaks down, the voter can choose to wait for a replacement machine or have their vote inserted by a member of the election board when a replacement machine has been received. In the latter case, the voter must waive their right to receive a receipt confirming their vote, which can be a source of voter fraud.

Kontra Daya is concerned that a widespread breakdown of voting machines might cast doubt on the integrity of the vote. We encourage voters to wait until the machines are replaced, so they are able to feed their ballot into the machine on their own and prevent vote manipulation. We call on the COMELEC to resolve these incidents at the soonest possible time, to give voters confidence that their vote has been cast correctly and to give more time for as many people as possible to vote.

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