It's now or never for the 33,484 candidates vying for the different positions at stake in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections tomorrow in Bohol's 1,109 villages. _Per figures of the Commission on Elections, 729,815 registered voters in Bohol as of the last elections are expected to troop to their respective precincts to pick their preferred candidates listed by the poll body as the filing of certificates of candidacies closed midnight of Wednesday, October 13. The number could be more as this elections include Sangguninag Kabataan members who can already vote at 15. Age of political maturity in the Philippines is pegged at 18. Opened slots for the local are a seat for chairman and seven barangay council members or kagawads in each barangay while similar positions are also at stake in the barangay youth council or SK.

According to the data furnished by the Comelec, a total of 2,147 of these candidates eye the office of barangay chairman, while 17,008 are running for the seven slots opened for the barangay council members. For the SK, 2,359 are interested in 1,109 slots for youth barangay SK chairman while 11,970 youth are running to get elected as SK councilor. While Comelec Bohol agree that there are barangay chairmen's seats that remain uncontested, some seats in some towns are vied by three or more eager candidates. Over this, the local Comelec through Atty. Eliseo Labaria reiterates that the barangay election is in nature, non-partisan so that the filing of candidacies would be by individual and no slate is expected. A cusory look at the local scenes however reveal that unseen hands of mayors and allies is still prominent, as the battle for the coveted Association of Barangay Councils get its material from the polls. And as the election period rolls starting September 25, the issuance of appointments, promotions and creation of new positions as well as giving salary increases in government officer and instrumentalties are prohibited.

The period has also banned fund raising activities through dances, lotteries and cockfights, Comelec said. “Contrasenyas” nullifies ballots Ballots deliberately marked for purposes of countersigns (contrasenyas) can be considered null and void. On this, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) in Bohol warns vote buyers and voters trooping to the polls in Bohol's 1109 barangays on Monday against wasting their votes on scrupulous practices that challenge the integrity of elections. In the country known for its fraudulent manual polls, candidates instruct their “paid” voters to strictly follow markers so that the buyers can track specific votes read during canvassing from his materlist of assigned countersigns. Marked ballots, or as the Board of Election Tellers (BET) agree that it is deliberately put by the voter for idetification purposes it make the ballot null and void. Provincial Election supervisor Atty Eliseo Labaria, citing the General Instructions for BET and Barangay Board of Canvassers in connection with the 2010 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections also reiterated this.

The ruling is to prevent voters from putting up the “contrasenyas” or a practice of deliberately marking ballots in manual elections to assure the candidates that the votes read belongs to a voter he has bribed, explains a teacher who used to be a BET member in the past manual polls. These marks however do not include commas, dots, lines or hyphens, accidental flourishes, strokes or strains in a ballot, rule 22 of section 211 of the Omnibus Election Code. While it may be considered that a typical writer's mistakes can be manifest in the ballot, clearly marking them would invalidate the whole ballot, not just the vote in favor of the name of the candidate, a recap from the general instructions show. The BET however should decide and agree if the marks are such to be considered strong enough to be considered rejected. The cardinal rule however is to consider the ballot valid and in favor of the voter, but the Comelec has allowed the BET independence in the ballot appreciation, Comelec Genereal Instructions said. According to the rules, names of candidates printed and pasted on a blank space of the ballot or affixed there on a mechanical process would also be deemed null and void. This would then render the whole ballot null and void. (PIABohol)