On Wed, Apr 27, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced that it has dropped its plans to set up voting centers in malls for the May 9 elections.
“Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said the en banc voted 4-3 not to push through with the mall voting after approving the proposal last month. At least 86 malls were supposed to be used as voting centers before the plan was junked. This was becasue, under the law, voting precincts should already be transferred to the malls 45 days before election day,” reports ABS-CBN News.
Bautista apologized to voters who had been looking forward to a more convenient voting process.
It may be recalled that eight mall chains offered their malls as voting areas. These are SM Supermalls, Ayala Malls, Robinsons Malls, Gaisano Grand Malls, Megaworld Lifestyle Malls, Pacific Malls/Metro Gaisano, WalterMart Community Malls, and Fisher Mall.
Bautista explained, “The issue was in respect to this 45-day transfer, that the interpretation was whether or not the approval and the transfer should happen 45 days before the election. What was being discussed was the approval happened on March 10, which is 60 days before the election. But what the others were saying is they should have transferred the precincts already to the mall. But when you think about it, the transfer actually happens on Election Day itself.”
“Just because you designate a certain place as a voting precinct, you don’t immediately transfer it there. Same thing with the schools, when you transfer say voters to a particular school, the school does not automatically become a voting precinct for the next 45 days,” he added.
Then again, Bautista’s argument is pointless now.
Aside from the 45-day transfer period, critics had earlier raised questions about the mall voting plan, pointing out that “the Omnibus Election Code orders the closure of stores, stalls, and other types of vendors within 30 meters from the voting place on May 9.”
