Violence mars special polls in Lanao del Sur, “where election is business”

ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews / June 4) – A child died from stray bullets as armed followers of politicians in Lanao del Sur shot it out with rivals in a special election marred with violence and fraud.

The indiscriminate firing was only one of many cases of election-related violence and irregularities that was reported as widely occurring in the towns where political warlords are still in control.

The Citizens Coalition for ARMM Electoral Reform (Citizens CARE), a Commission on Election (Comelec)-accredited election watch group, did not identify the child victim, but siad the victim died on the spot when caught in the middle of indiscriminate firing by rival
political groups.

Salic Ibrahim, executive director of Maradeca Inc. and head of Citizen CARE, said indiscriminate firing was done by support groups of politicians in Sultan Domalondong and in Masiu towns.

“Although police and military manned the precincts, the tension was still high with indiscriminate firing to threaten voters,” Ibrahim said

“It was still different if the trained Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) would manage the election because the military and policemen lacked expertise in handling the election,” Ibrahim said.

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