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16-month retention of ballots OK’d
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Posted on Feb 24 2005
The Commonwealth Election Commission has adopted a regulation allowing counted ballots to be discarded 16 months, instead of four years, from election day.
The new policy will free boxes containing ballots from the November 2003 midterm elections for use in this year’s elections, something that the Election Commission would not be able to do under the old rules.
According to the newly adopted regulation, the commission is required to retain counted ballots for 16 months, rather than 48 months, from the date of the election. The agency may permanently dispose of the ballots after that period.
In an earlier interview, CEC executive director Gregorio Sablan said the commission is lowering the retention period for counted ballots for practical reasons.
“We see no reason why we should keep the ballots for 48 months. It’s a concept that we started in the beginning, and it proved to be not very practical,” Sablan said.
He pointed out that four years is too long a time to retain ballots, as elections can only be contested within 30 days after the election results are certified.
He added that since he took over the commission in 1999, there has been only one occasion when an individual wanted to see the ballots.
Further, CEC’s ballot boxes are just enough for the polling places throughout the Commonwealth. The commission has no extra boxes in which to store old ballots.
“We’re just being practical about it. Sixteen months after an election is just about the right time to dispose of old ballots, because that’s usually when we get new ballots for the next election,” he said.
