Comelec: We will save millions with mall-based polling

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Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Andres Bautista said that the government would save money if mall-based voting will be conducted in the 2016 election.

“Did you know that 41 places owned by private entities were used by the Comelec in the 2013 mid-term elections where it paid rent of close to a million pesos? In 2016, the malls are offering their spaces for free,” said Bautista in a text message to Manila Bulletin.

While Comelec endorsed mall-based voting, Senator Aquilino “Kiko” Pimentel didn’t welcome the idea.

According to Pimentel, malls are privately-owned establishments. Therefore, the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) would not allow the usage of malls as polling places.

“This mall voting, in my personal opinion, there is no legal basis to do that. So, Comelec should stop entertaining that,” the Senator was quoted as saying in the same report.

However, Bautista has insisted that Pimentel was wrong. He cited Article IX of the 1987 Constitution, which affirms Comelec’s discretion on choosing polling places.

“I know that Senator Koko is a UP lawyer and bar topnotcher. But I think he is wrong about mall voting. We will endeavor to convince him. It would also be an honor and privilege to orally argue the case before him in the Supreme Court,” Bautista told Manila Bulletin.