![Ballots for BSKE now at City Hall](https://mindanaotoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Local-8.jpg)
BSKE FORUM – City Election Officers Ramil Acol (3rd from left) and Joel Dexter Nagtalon (4th from left), both lawyers, in a Kapihan sa PIA forum at the Rotonda, Limketkai Center, Cagayan de Oro City,
Mindanaotoday.com | Ballots for BSKE now at City Hall
By: URIEL QUILINGUING
The City Treasurer’s Office in Cagayan de Oro on Thursday, October 19, led the inventory of paraphernalia for the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) on October 30.
BSKE official ballots, election return forms, and indelible ink from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Main Office in Manila arrived at City Hall past noon of Monday, October 16, City Treasurer Jasmin Maagad said.
The CTO is the official depository for ballot boxes, official ballots, accountable forms, and other equipment and gadgets used in elections.
On Tuesday, October 17, Maagad issued a Notice to the local offices of Comelec, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), and to the candidates for their information and presence to observe the physical inventory of election paraphernalia at the City Tourism Hall 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 19.
Incidentally, the 10-day election campaign period also started on that day and would end on October 28. Most candidates started their house-to-house campaign sorties, others launched their candidacies via motorcades.
“In compliance to Comelec Resolution No. 10924, Section 559 item 111(a), this office will be conducting a verification on the Serial Numbers assigned to each Official Ballot for Inventory Report purposes,” Maadad wrote in the Notice.
Comelec Resolution No. 10924 is the rules and regulations implementing Republic Act No. 9006 or the Fair Elections Act, in connection with the BSKE this year.
The Notice specifically named the City Election Officers, lawyers Joel Dexter Nagtalon of the first district and Ramil Acol of the second district, to personally observe the verification process which is part of the inventory of Official Ballots, ER forms, and indelible ink.
Cagayan de Oro has more 379 thousand registered voters for both first and second congressional districts. It has 1,905 precincts which in the past election were clustered into 448 in 61 voting centers.
On October 9, the Comelec released the list of common poster areas (CPA) for Cagayan de Oro and the rest of the country and these are mostly within the vicinity of barangay halls, plazas, covered courts, basketball courts, passenger terminals, and public markets.
For instance, in Barangay Carmen, Cagayan de Oro biggest basic political unit in terms of population, land area, and income, has seven CPAs which are strategically situated in places earlier enumerated.
Only those approved by the local Comelec office, and displayed in designated CPA are legal campaign materials. Those posted outside the CPA are deemed illegal and would be removed by authorities.
###