Do not write smiley faces, emojis, hearts and hashtags on the ballots.
This was the strict warning of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to voters as prepares to conduct manual voting for the 2018 Barangay (village) and Sangguniang Kabataan聽(SK or youth council) elections.
In an interview with reporters on Wednesday, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez聽said voters risk voiding their ballots should they doodle on them while casting their votes.
鈥淗indi ko naman nilalahat, pero mayroon tayong mga kabataan na mahilig maglagay聽ng happy faces, hearts at ng kung anu ano pa. Baka ma-invalidate ang balota.聽Sayang naman,鈥� Jimenez said.
The Comelec official warned that the Board of Election Tellers (BET) may void a聽ballot just because of doodles as they may misread the name of candidates chosen聽by the voter.
鈥淲e鈥檙e advising young voters not to mark ballots in any way, like hashtags, smiley聽face, hearts. Please avoid it because your ballots may be invalidated,鈥� Jimenez聽stressed.
鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 a manual election, there are many variables in being able to interpret聽the ballots, such as legibility of the handwriting and cleanliness of the ballot,鈥� he聽explained.
But Jimenez admitted that they would not be surprised should there be reports of聽doodled on ballots on election day because of the manual election鈥檚 鈥渘ovelty.鈥�
鈥淭he Comelec鈥檚 concern is the novelty of blank paper ballots. To our youth, election聽means shading the ballots, not writing on a blank ballot. They may feel strange聽having a blank ballot,鈥� Jimenez said.
Unlike the automated national elections, the Comelec would be using a manual聽election system for the barangay (village) and SK polls. In a manual voting system, voters write the names of their chosen candidates聽on paper ballots.聽聽聽聽 /muf