THE matter regarding the questionable 20 million votes cast within the first hour from the closing of polls in the May 9, 2022 national and local elections continues to hound the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

The doubt arises from the early transmission of election returns from various polling precincts nationwide. Data on the Comelec website shows that the first election return was received at 7:08:50 on the night of May 9, 2022 from clustered precinct 31080039. The Comelec has been challenged to show that early transmission from a vote counting machine (VCM) is possible considering the number of tasks that the electoral board had to finish first prior to transmission. The poll body has not responded to the challenge.