Transmission delays mark Comelec mock polls in Cebu

Personnnel from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Cebu Provincial Office set up their receiver in preparation for the transmission of the results during the mock elections held in two clustered precincts in the town of Santander, 138 kilometers south of Cebu City, on Jan. 19, 2019. | Contributed photo

CEBU CITY — Despite having laid out a “contingency plan,” the Provincial Board of Canvassers of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Cebu took nearly three hours to successfully transmit the result of the mock elections held in Santander town, 138 kilometers south of Cebu City.

Barangays Cabutongan and Poblacion of Santander were the venues for the mock polls held this morning, January 19.

Comelec Cebu banked on the Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN), a satellite-baded technology, to transmit the mock polls result without depending on cellular network signal.

The transmission of the mock polls result were supposedly expected at 12:30 p.m. as the voting closed at exactly 12 noon. However, the results were not transmitted to the PBOC and to the National Board of Canvassers until 2:50 p.m.

Acting Cebu Election Supervisor Jerome Brillantes said that despite the delay, they still consider the mock elections successful because of the learnings they had along the process.

“Nagrequest ta sa Manila ug BGAN tungod sa Sinulog nga naay signal shut off. However, naapektohan gihapon ang signal sa atong BGAN,” Brillantes said.

“Usa na siya sa atong input nga what can they (Central Office) if duna gyud tay walay signal sa actual election na,” he added.

Aside from Santander town, mock polls were also conducted in Barangays Mabolo and Lusaran in Cebu City./elb