Local winners known before May 10 ends

Before midnight of May 10 the Commission on Elections is expecting to proclaim most of the winners of the local elections, provided there are no serious technical hitches and glitches, a Commission on Elections official said yesterday.

“To be technical about it, in those municipalities where there are only few voters, before 12 midnight. But in the case of cities, there’s a possibility it may go beyond May 10,” said election officer II Dominic Ian Marigomen of Danao City.

The public can participate in the speedy process of the first-ever automated polls by casting their votes early. Voting starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m.

The voters are also urged to visit the Comelec office prior to the elections to locate their precinct and know the cluster number of their precinct.

There are 2,416,092 voters who registered with the Commission on Elections all over Cebu City and Province.

He said voters, can help speed up the process of locating their precincts by visiting Comelec’s website (www.comelec.gov.ph).

As a lawyer, Marigomen said that it is all right to bring a sample ballot inside the voting center since these are just guides to facilitate voters’ choice of candidates.

But he said that any act of campaigning during the Election Day is definitely not allowed.

He however assured that voters who are within a 30-meter radius of their precincts by 6 p.m. will still be allowed to vote.

Section 21 of Comelec Resolution 8786 states the “If at six o'clock there are still voters within thirty (30) meters in front of the polling place who have not yet cast their votes, voting shall continue but only to allow said voters to cast their votes without interruption.

“The poll clerk shall, without delay, prepare a complete list containing the names of said voters consecutively numbered; the voters listed shall be called to vote by the poll clerk by announcing each name three (3) times in the order in which they are listed.

“Any voter in the list who is not present when called shall not be allowed to vote at any later time. The said list shall be submitted to the Election Officer.”

Comelec will also require the election inspectors to use a classroom next to the voting precinct as a holding area for voters still unable to vote as of 6 p.m., but Marigomen said the area should not be used for campaigning.

“As long as partisan political activity (is not being done) in the holding area, it is okay (to let voters stay),” he said.

Meanwhile, Marigomen said that there will be a voters’ assistance booth to help voters find their voting precincts. Even the citizen’s arm is reportedly installing voters’ assistance booths, he said.

The Comelec, with the coordination with the Department of Education, will also have their own.

He said people should participate in the automated polls to bid goodbye to the manual election which has been tainted with all sorts of cheating.

“This is a departure from the old system which is reputed and riddled with many forms of fraud,” he said. (FREEMAN NEWS)