Filipinos took part in the country’s first ever automated election on May 10, 2010, the second Monday of May as mandated by law. This brought about a new chapter in the country’s history. It’s a very significant milestone, given those long years of tedious manual election process that not only cast burden on our teachers and volunteers, but had also left doubtful and questionable election results.
The Commission of Election (COMELEC) utilized new technology to modernize the election process. With this, the COMELEC conducted numerous voters’ education campaigns and trainings to introduce the voting public to poll automation, particularly on the new voting process and on how the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machine can count votes automatically. Voters do not have to write the names of candidates on ballots. Instead, they shade the egg-shaped circle beside each name of the candidate by using a special pen.
Despite remarks on the smooth flow of the voting process, the election has been rained with various complaints, mostly about the malfunction of the PCOS machines, irregular procedures in the handling of ballots, and the long queues that contributed to the delay of the voting process. To ensure that every voter will get to vote in the automated polls and perhaps to appease the voters complaining on the delay, COMELEC extended the voting period by one hour. The voting period, which officially opened at 7 a.m., was supposed to close at 6 p.m. Given the one-hour extension, the closing of the voting period was moved to 7 p.m.
In Sudlon 2, there are 2,329 registered voters divided into three clustered/grouped precincts. The board of election inspectors (BEIs) prioritized the senior citizens and mothers who brought their children with them. The queues outside the precincts were so long that many complained about waiting for hours to get their turn to vote. Despite that, the voters felt luckier because Sudlon 2 is a cold place, and the heat is bearable.
Finally, my time to vote came. I brought with me my list of candidates I will vote so I won’t have a hard time voting. I also had with me a digital camera to take some pictures inside the precinct. However, a teacher (one of the BEIs) told me off for taking pictures inside since it is not allowed due to the legalities surrounding such act. I heeded her. It could be my fault because I only asked permission from a poll watcher. What I don’t like about is the way the teacher scolded me. We’re surrounded by many people and I felt embarrassed. She could have told me about it in the right way, quietly or privately. I have no issue with that, and I am willing to delete all the pictures I took.
I discussed the incident with my sister, who happened to be friends with the teacher. She is like that when she gets mad, my sister told me of her teacher-friend. Well, I just tried to understand.
Despite the uneasiness voters felt, the first automated election in the Philippines can be described as generally successful, with a big voter turnout and less election-related violence than in the previous presidential elections.
