ANOTHER 225 flying voters have been added and crossed out from the voters list of Pualas, Lanao del Sur, as ruled by the Regional Trial Court.
From the 1,753 voters officially excluded by the Municipal Commission on Elections (Comelec) of Pualas, another 225 were added, bringing the total number of excluded flying voters to 1,978.
Last Monday, April 21, the Comelec of Pualas manually crossed out those who will be excluded from the May 12 election following the RTC’s ruling for non-residency.
The ruling, according to Comelec Election Officer II Arang Banto, came after thorough verification and investigation.
The RTC order is final and executory, Banto said. After the exclusion, these voters will be prohibited from voting in the upcoming election.
“Yung mga hindi na convince ang korte na hindi residence (of certain barangay in Pualas) yon lang ang tinangal nila,” Banto explained.
The number of petitioned voters in Pualas alleged to be non-residents is more than 2,000.
Among the 23 barangays of Pualas, Linuk recorded the largest number of excluded voters, with over 700 flying voters from 1,617 registered voters.
Overall, Pualas has more than 13,360 registered voters, according to the Comelec officer, with 24 clustered precincts and 84 established precincts.
Respondents on Monday questioned the cross-outs, claiming they did not receive any notice from the RTC.
“They claim it na wala silang alam sa cases nila kasi hindi daw nag notice ang RTC sa kanila,” Banto said, emphasizing that it was not the Comelec’s fault, as they were merely implementing the court order.
“To the public, the petition for the exclusion of voters by the petitioners, the result of the decision of Municipal Trial Court and Regional Trial Court ay nandito na sa opisina nang Comelec,” the election officer said.
The petition was filed before the Municipal Trial Court by mayoral aspirant Al Ihsan Marohom Ibrahim, who is running against incumbent Mayor Amanodem Gocul.
