GUINOBATAN, Albay—Over-voting and under-voting in the provinces of Albay and Catanduanes could have shaken the gubernatorial race during the elections Monday, May 12.
According to the data from the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) website, there were 47,923 over-votes and under-votes in the two provinces that could have made a difference in the results of the polls.
In Albay, governor-elect Noel Rosal (PDPLBN) beat former Rep. Joey Salceda (Lakas) by 9,193 votes. Comelec recorded 6,985 over-votes in the province, effectively nullifying the votes. Comelec has also recorded 28,166 under-votes in Albay.
Over-voting means the voters went to the polling precinct, but cast a vote for more candidates than they should in a position. There have been reports of accidental over-votes, but Bicoldotph is unable to verify them at the moment.
Meanwhile, under-voting happens when voters did not vote for anyone in the position where they are only allowed to vote for one, or they did not vote for the maximum number of candidates in positions where they are allowed to vote more than one. In the case of the gubernatorial race, this means that despite showing up at the polling precinct, the voter did not choose anyone from the candidates.
In Catanduanes, the former president of Catanduanes State University and independent candidate, Patrick Alain Azanza, beat outgoing vice governor Peter “Boss Te” Cua (Lakas) in the gubernatorial race by 362 votes.
Both the over-votes and the under-votes recorded by Comelec in the province could have easily shaken these results. There were 1,092 over-votes and 11,680 under-votes in the province.
Meanwhile, in other provinces—Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Sorsogon, and Masbate—the gubernatorial race winners had a clear enough margin that over-votes and under-votes could not have many any difference in the poll results.
In Camarines Norte, incumbent governor Dong Padilla (PFP) was able to keep his seat as he beat former governor Egay Tallado (NPC) by more than 81,000 votes.
In Camarines Sur, returning governor Luis Raymond “LRay” Villafuerte Jr. (NUP) beat Bong Rodriguez (NPC), the former regional campaign manager of Naga City mayor-elect Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo, by over 93,000 votes.
Just like in Camarines Norte, the sitting governor in Sorsogon was able to keep his position. Boboy Hamor (NPC) beat Matnog town Mayor Cattleya So (PFP) by over 254,000 votes.
In Masbate, the son of the outgoing governor will lead the province as former Rep. Richard Kho (Lakas) beat Socrates Tuason (LP) by over 190,000 votes.