Who can be members of board of election inspectors?

CEBU, Philippines - Only public school teachers that are registered voters can be appointed as members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) for the May 13 mid-term elections.

Talisay City assistant Comelec officer Mariella Remuruza said 384 public school teachers have been appointed as members of the BEI, which the Comelec regional office earlier trained the pool of trainers for BEIs, composed of provincial election supervisors, election officers, and board of certifiers.

The BEI is composed of a chairman and a poll clerk, who are public school teachers.

The board conducts the voting and counting of votes in their respective polling places and acts as deputies of the commission in the supervision and control of the election in their assigned polling places.

Remuruza also said the Comelec has reactivated the registration records of public school teachers who have been appointed as members of the BEI.

This, after they were inadvertently deactivated due to their alleged failure to vote in two succeeding regular elections.

However, the concerned teachers claimed to have voted in the May 10, 2010 national and local elections, the first automated election, and based on preliminary verification, the Comelec said they might have erroneously voted in the polling place of the clustered precincts where they were assigned as members of the BEI.

Remuruza also said they could not have left their assignment on the day of the election but just voted in their assigned polling place and not in the precinct where they were registered.

The Comelec rules that only public school teachers that are registered voters can be appointed as members of the BEI. (FREEMAN)