A Facebook post falsely claimed that partial election results in Davao del Norte were available by 2 p.m. on May 12—well before voting had officially ended.
The post, published by DAVNOR Facts at 2:38 p.m., featured unofficial percentages for congressional, gubernatorial and mayoral races along with the caption:
AS OF 2:00 PM MAY 12, 2025 MIDTERM ELECTIONS
VOTE WISELY MGA KA DAVNOR FACTS (Vote wisely, fellow DAVNOR Facts)!
The post alleged that Oyo Uy was leading the congressional race in the first district with 77% of votes, Aldu Duhali was ahead in the gubernatorial race with 53%, and Rey Uy held a commanding 72% in the mayoral race for Tagum City.
However, under Section 206, Article XVIII of the Omnibus Election Code, votes are counted only after voting officially ends and must be conducted publicly by the Board of Election Inspectors at the polling precincts. No official results can be released or presumed before this process begins.
While early voting began at 5 p.m., regular voting ran from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., making any claims of partial vote tallies by 2 p.m. impossible under Philippine election law.
The first partial results were transmitted after 7 p.m. on election day. As of 10 p.m., the Commission on Elections had transmitted about 65% the election returns from Davao del Sur.
Read the full story on FactRakers.org.