The first parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) recorded an 84.34% voter turnout, with around 2.1 million voters casting their ballots, Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Chairman George Garcia said Wednesday.
Garcia described the turnout as a successful showing of voter participation in the region’s first parliamentary elections, held on September 14, with voting extended in some areas until September 15.
"Inabot ng 84.34%, ang voter's turnout ng Bangsamoro, ganun kataas, halos kasaysayan ng ating bansa," Garcia said in an interview with Dos Por Dos.
Earlier, in an interview with Magandang Umaga Pilipinas, Garcia said nearly 2.1 million voters cast their ballots out of the 2.393 million registered voters in the region.
“Kung 2.393 million po tayo ang halos bumoto po ay 2.1 million na mga kababayan natin dito sa Bangsamoro,” Garcia said.
The election determined the members of the 80-seat Bangsamoro Parliament, composed of 40 party representatives, 32 district representatives, and eight sectoral representatives.
COMELEC has also announced the allocation of parliamentary seats among the winning regional parliamentary political parties.
The Bangsamoro Federalist Party (BFP) received 678,328 votes and secured 16 party seats, while the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) garnered 613,663 votes and obtained 15 seats.
The BARMM Grand Coalition (BGC) received 391,266 votes and secured eight seats, while the Raayat Democratic Party-Bangsamoro People's Democratic Party obtained 68,839 votes and one seat.
Garcia said the newly elected parliament members may take their oath after their proclamation, but their formal assumption of office is scheduled for October.
“Pwede na silang mag-oath taking matapos po silang ma-iproklama pero syempre ‘yung pormal na assumption ay ngayong Oktubre, yung mga nahalal,” Garcia said.
Meanwhile, Garcia addressed reports of problems involving ballots in Basilan, saying COMELEC immediately ordered the printing and delivery of replacement ballots after the integrity of ballots in affected precincts was compromised.
“Ang tanong ba doon ba nangyari yung pagshe-shading? Hindi ba pwedeng isang tao lang yun sapagkat 16,500 na balota po 'yun? At more or less ang na-shade. Opo. At na na-share naman ay hindi lamang isang posisyon isang boto sa sa isang posisyon. So technically po yung lahat ng balota ay nakompromiso. At therefore alam niyo po ah 68 lahat yon na mga presinto ang nashadan po,” he added.
He said the replacement ballots were printed at the National Printing Office in Manila, transported by commercial flight to Zamboanga, and then delivered to Maluso, Basilan, using a Navy vessel to allow voting to proceed.
Garcia also stressed the need to amend and modernize the Omnibus Election Code, which dates back to 1985, to address challenges brought by the digital age, including automated vote-buying schemes.
