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MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday night, May 9, did not cave in to pressure and stuck with its original voting hours, despite calls for extension from various groups due to technical woes that marred their election day experience.
Poll workers only accommodated people who made the 7 pm cutoff in lines outside polling precincts. In some areas in Metro Manila, voters were still waiting to cast their ballots by 9 pm.
Multiple incidents of delayed voting were reported particularly in various parts of the capital region, after some vote-counting machines and SD cards malfunctioned.
Temie Lambino, Comelec’s regional election director for Metro Manila, said that only 165 machines had to be repaired or replaced, while 142 SD cards did not work.
While the number of defective VCMs accounted for a minuscule fraction of the total, the technical difficulties still affected thousands of registered voters.
After voting closed, the Comelec held a press conference, where it doubled down on its earlier pronouncement that extending voting hours was unlikely.
“Chairman [Saidamen Pangarungan] had made it clear a while ago that we do not expect any extension,” Comelec’s acting spokesman Rex Ludiangco said.
“But you know Comelec, if ever there is a justifiable ground to extend, you can be assured that the Comelec will be declaring an extension. But for now, there are no grounds to move or authorize the extension of voting hours,” he added.
Lambino, citing assessment from the police, also said voting was “generally peaceful.”
“There is no report of untoward incident to our office, except for some problem on queueing and falling in line by some of our voters,” he said.
Poll watchdog Kontra Daya scored the Comelec over its refusal to extend voting hours.
“The poll body has effectively ignored the clamor of voters who had to endure long lines, stressful delays and other inconveniences caused by the inefficiency of the Comelec and Smartmatic,” it said in a statement on Monday night.
Under the Comelec’s established contingency procedures, when a VCM malfunctions in a polling precinct, voting must continue.
The voter has two options:
- proceed with voting, but agree to sign a waiver of their right to be issued a receipt; the electoral board will batch-feed the ballots before the polls close
- wait for the VCM malfunction issue to be resolved so they could personally feed their ballot
Voters were reportedly insistent that they personally feed the ballots into the VCM, resulting in huge crowds in voting centers. – Rappler.com
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