It’s a go for 185 party-list groups

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has given 185 party-list groups the go-signal to take part in the May 2016 polls.

In Comelec Resolution No. 10025 dated Dec. 3, the poll body said the placing of the 185 groups on the ballots would be determined in a raffle set on Dec. 14.

The groups include 84 organizations whose requests to be allowed to join the elections are being reviewed by the full Comelec after being rejected by the poll body’s First and Second Divisions.

A total of 243 party-list groups filed for inclusion in the list or Manifestations of Intent to Participate in the 2016 elections.

Unlike in previous elections, the placing of party-list groups in the ballots would no longer be in alphabetical order but would be determined through a raffle.

The poll body decided to adopt the new setup in response to concerns that groups with names prefixed with No. 1 or letter A enjoy undue advantage as voters hardly go through the entire list of candidates.

The resolution also showed eight other groups may be included in the raffle “subject to the resolution of the pending incidents respecting their cases.”

The eight include those which filed their motion to be included in the list after the May 8 deadline.