PPCRV shows some of the unreadable election returns for the first BARMM parliamentary elections. (INQUIRER.net / Dianne Sampang)

MANILA, Philippines — The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) has flagged unreadable physical election returns (ERs) for the first Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary elections, which makes it difficult to manually audit the integrity of electronically transmitted votes, its spokesperson said on Monday. 

According to Ana Singson, the PPCRV has so far noticed that roughly 1% of the ERs they already checked cannot be scanned. She noted that around 11 ERs of the 1,826 ERs they audited last Friday are unreadable. 

“You can see the QR code and there is a blank strip in the center. Because of that blank strip, this ER cannot be read. And that means, you cannot read the votes of at most 600 people, the votes of an entire precinct,” Singson told reporters in an interview, as she showed an example of an unreadable ER where a blank strip is visible in the middle of the copy. 

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READ: PPCRV to finish BARMM election returns audit by Wednesday

Singson explained that the PPCRV is conducting an unofficial parallel count of all the physical ERs from 5,212 precincts to double-check if the electronically transmitted votes match the results indicated in the ERs.

The PPCRV is given one of the copies of the ERs, as it is an accredited election watchdog of the Commission on Elections (Comelec). 

“Yung transmitted vote andun naman but the thing is, kung hindi man namin ma-scan yung ER, we cannot audit that vote because the reason for comparing the two is para ma-audit mo kasi dapat pareho. Yung printout, which came out from the machines, should be exactly the same as the transmitted vote,” she added. 

(The transmitted vote is there but the thing is, if we cannot scan the ER, we cannot audit that vote because the reason for comparing the two is to audit because they should be the same. The printout which came out from the machines should be exactly the same from the transmitted vote.)

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Singson also said that they already flagged the same issue in the 2025 midterm elections. She then called on the Comelec to address and resolve the issue, given that the 2028 national and local elections are fast approaching. 

“I think it’s very important that Comelec can give attention to this because 2028 is around the corner and 1% of the ERs we have scanned so far, 1% if multiplied in a tight race can be definitive. It can tell you, it can define who will win and who will not,” she noted. 

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Singson said that they already brought the matter to the Comelec last year, and she said that Comelec Chairperson George Garcia acknowledged the concern, citing the quality of the ballots and markers used.

In its final report of the midterm elections last year, the PPCRV said that inaccurate voter receipts were caused by unintended markings brought by smudges of markers and thumb marks.

READ: PPCRV on ‘25 midterm polls: Inaccurate voter receipts due to markings

Garcia earlier said that the poll body introduced changes in election materials for the parliamentary polls, such as the use of 160 gram per square meter ballot paper and oil-based markers. 

Meanwhile, Singson said that this cannot be considered as an isolated case, given that it already happened last year and the unreadable ERs were not recorded in the same precinct. 

When asked for a comment, Garcia told the Inquirer that such an issue was not observed during the final testing and sealing (FTS).

The Comelec conducts FTS using official ballots to ensure that all systems are working accurately for the elections. 

“Aalamin po namin kung yung other copies of the ERs sa same precincts ay ganyan din,” Garcia said in a Viber message. 

(We will find out if other copies of the ERs in the same precincts are also like that.)

On the other hand, Singson shared that they receive ERs of the results of final testing and sealing (FTS) in some precincts, instead of the actual voter receipts from election day.

“Siguro naconfuse na, mali ang nahugot na ER but then again, sayang, because of that, we have no eyes in that particular precincts as far as the audit is concerned,” she added. 

(They may have been confused in giving us the wrong ER, but then again, it had been a waste; because of that, we have no eyes in that particular precinct as far as the audit is concerned.)

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Singson shared that the PPCRV will wrap up its unofficial parallel count of ERs by Wednesday. /gsg