No pre-shaded ballots for May 13 polls: Comelec

The video also alleged that the hidden marks can only be seen using UV lamps. (Screenshot from viral Video: Rene Andrew/Facebook)

MANILA — An official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday said there is no truth to allegations that official ballots for the May 13 mid-term elections have been pre-shaded.

Comelec Executive Director Jose Tolentino Jr. denied claims that the ballots have been marked using ultraviolet (UV) inks, making them invisible to the naked eye.

“We tested. The marks using UV inks weren’t read by the VCM, which looks for a black ink or those that are always visible so to speak,” he said in a press briefing.

Tolentino said there is a video circulating on social media, claiming that the ballots were marked by UV inks, making them pre-shaded but hidden.

The video also alleged that the hidden marks can only be seen using UV lamps.

“The ballots have QR codes, serial number, and precinct assignment. It was obviously a staged video because it doesn’t have those features. It was a waste because they already staged a video yet they used the wrong ballot prop,” Tolentino said.

He noted that those behind such activities will be held accountable.

“Once we know who they are, yes, of course,” the Comelec official added.

Meanwhile, Tolentino said the three source codes of the remaining components of the automated election system (AES) have been deposited in escrow with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, as required by the Poll Automation Law.

The codes are the Operating System (OS) image rebuild for the Consolidation and Canvassing System (CCS), Transmission Router, and the Domain Name Server (DNS) Janitor.

“To be escrowed are the remaining source codes that were reviewed and certified by our international certification entity and were also reviewed by our local source code reviewers,” he said.

“No one have found or said that they found that there is any malicious code embedded in the source codes,” Tolentino added.

The source codes for the Election Management System, CCS, and the vote counting machines were first deposited last February.