Comelec sets raffle of partylist order in poll ballot in Sept.

MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is looking to hold a raffle in September to determine the order of party-list groups on the official ballots for next year's midterm elections.

“Ang gusto namin mga second or third week ng September mag-raffle ng mga number na gagamitin ng party-list groups. Dapat matapos na ang raffle natin before the end of September sapagkat susunod na diyan ang filing of Certificate of Candidacy, which is Oct. 1-8 (We want to hold the raffle by the second or third week of September for the number to be assigned to party-list groups. We should finish the raffle before the end of September because next would be the filing of Certificate of Candidacy, which is Oct. 1-8),” Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia said in a press briefing Thursday.

In the 2013 elections, the Comelec implemented the raffle system to determine the order of listing of party-list groups on the official ballots.

The system was adopted to prevent organizations from jostling for names that start with the first letter of the alphabet or number as the previous listing used the alphabetical order.

On the other hand, Garcia appealed to the groups to choose nominees who best represent their sector in Congress.

“At the same time, kahit sabihin na exclusive prerogative ng party-lists ang nominees na sa-submit sapagkat yan ay party matters, kaya lang, ang Comelec ay pwede makialam kung may mag-file ng petition to disqualify a nominee (even if it is the party-lists’ prerogative to pick nominees – because this is a party matter – the Comelec can step in if somebody files a petition to disqualify a nominee),” he said.

At the same time, Garcia reminded partly-list groups that they would only allow 10 nominees.

“Kung 10 ang nominado at kung lahat mag-resign, wala na pong representatives ang party-list na yan dahil hindi na kami tatanggap ng karagdagan o bagong listahan (If they have 10 nominees and all of them resigned, the party-list will not have a representative because we will no longer accept an additional or new list),” he said. (PNA)