EDITORIAL - Why not a special voting booth for seniors?

There is now a lobby by certain groups to grant senior citizens their own voting booth in polling precincts. The lobby makes sense and should be supported. If Comelec allows a dedicated booth for senior citizens, it will help speed up the voting process for everyone.

As was the practice in past elections, senior citizens are allowed to insert themselves ahead of others in a voting queue. Without meaning any disrespect for seniors, this is unfair to others who have been in that queue for hours.

What makes the practice worse is that senior citizens are being bused in large numbers by certain politicians. And when busloads of these senior citizens arrive at a polling place, you can just imagine what happens when they start inserting themselves ahead of the others.

One or two senior citizens inserting themselves ahead of others in a line can be tolerated. But when they are bused and arrive together in large numbers, even seniority is not enough reason to deprive others their right to vote first on account of their being ahead.

Voting conditions in the Philippines are bad enough already as they are, it is worse when, in addition to the heat, the congestion, and the overall chaos of lost names, you have to add large-scale insertions of senior citizens into queues of people who came way ahead.

The time is therefore ripe to make some practical changes in the manner in which people vote at polling centers. And one of these practical changes ought to be the granting of special lines and voting booths for senior citizens.

It is hoped that the Comelec will listen to sound advice and not insist on the chaos now prevailing in polling centers. There is still time to adopt this practical change before the 2013 election and set aside funds for the purpose.

Setting aside a special booth for senior citizens should not require a huge budget and thus the Comelec cannot use lack of funds as an excuse to deny the lobby. For once the Comelec should listen to well-meaning proposals.