DETERMINED. Despite the heat and the cramped quarters, residents of Barangay Guadalupe came in droves to vote at the Guadalupe Elementary School. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
Voter turnout was higher in Cebu province at 85.6 percent as 1,629,553 out of 1,903,470 registered voters cast their ballots on Election Day, Provincial Election Supervisor Eliseo Labaria said yesterday.
“Gihinlo-an man nato ang atong voters’ list. Gitanggal nato ang kadtong mga double-registrants, kadtong mga wala’y biometrics, kadtong mga patay, mao na nakuha gyud tong mga voters nga wala na gyud mamotar, gitanggal na to tanan (We filtered our voters list, removed the double registrants, those without biometrics, those who died. That’s why we removed those who didn’t vote, who got disqualified, we removed them all),” Labaria said.
Labaria said there are still those who didn’t vote due to other commitments while some whose names were included in the voters list may have died in between January to May.
Since this year is also a presidential election, more voters turned out compared to the 2013 midterm elections.
Labaria said the electorate in Cebu is more active, visible and participative in the election process.
He said the presidential debate drew more interest from voters who saw for themselves the platform of governance of the candidates.
Labaria also reminded both winning and losing candidates to file their statement of contributions and expenditures (SOCEs) on or before June 8.
Though decriminalized and no longer considered an election offense, Republic Act 7166 (An Act Providing for Synchronized National and Local Elections and for Electoral Reforms) still requires candidates to file SOCEs 30 days after the election.
Except for candidates running for barangay posts, failure to file the SOCEs shall constitute an administrative offense for which violators shall be liable to pay an administrative fine.
Subsequent commission of the same offense will be subjected to a higher administrative fine in addition to perpetual disqualification to hold public office.
Labaria said those who failed to submit their SOCEs before the deadline will be notified of their failure to do so and will be fined.