CAPIZ – A security guard is now in police custody after he was caught taking a photo of his ballot inside a polling precinct in Barangay Sinondojan, Mambusao yesterday.
Police Lieutenant Arnel Solis, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office 6, said at around 9:10 a.m., Lucil Lerio Mendoza, a watcher for Capiz party, witnessed alias “Nene”, 57, taking a photo of the official ballot.
Mendoza immediately reported the incident to the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) chairperson Irma Vista Laging. On-duty police officers later brought the suspect to Mambusao Municipal Police Station for further investigation and proper documentation.
He allegedly violated Comelec Resolution No. 11076, Section 36, Paragraph (f), which bans the use of image-capturing devices such as mobile phones and cameras inside the precinct to prevent ballots from being used for illegal purposes.
Solis said the violation carries serious penalties under election laws, especially because photographing a ballot can be used to validate a vote as part of a potential vote-buying scheme.
“It is important that we protect the secrecy and sanctity of the ballot. Taking photos of ballots is not just a violation of the law but a possible gateway to electoral fraud,” the PRO-6 spokesperson added./PN
