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Hi everyone,
May 10th is coming up in a few weeks and this date for elections is our big chance to put into government those who are competent and trustworthy enough to make the best decisions for our country and people.
Instead of trying to convince you who I think you should be voting for, I wanted to talk about how we can make sure each of our votes literally and technically, count. Our country’s new Automated Election System is only automated as far as counting and tallying is concerned. But the actual voting process is all you, and that’s pretty much manually done.
Lots of buzz is going around about a possible failure of election because of the machines, hacking, etc. etc. etc. You can read up about system security here: http://www.ibanangayon.ph/?q=
So let’s focus our energies at knowing how we can all make sure as individuals that we come out and vote, and that our own ballot is done correctly, because this is what we control.
Let’s make May 10th count by making sure we know how to vote (not just wisely, but correctly).
0. Know your voting precinct. It may have changed from where you usually vote because each precinct gets only ONE PCOS machine (the device used to count votes), so bigger precincts may have been distributed to other precincts this year.
Enter your details at http://www.comelec.gov.ph/
1. Present a valid, government-issued I.D. to the Board of Election table upon arrival at the precinct. They will give you a special voting pen and ballot folder.
Accepted IDs are voter’s ID, driver’s license, passport, SSS, etc.
2. Proceed to the voting booth. Don’t rush. Shade the ovals next to your chosen candidates completely and carefully so the machine can read it. Do not fold or make any other marks on the ballot. No erasures may be made on the ballot. Make sure your hands are clean and dry and that you’re not sweating over the ballot sheet (pasmado much?) too. THIS IS IMPORTANT. We have to make absolutely sure the machine doesn’t reject it over such technicalities like this. YOU ONLY GET ONE BALLOT.
3. Don’t over vote! Though it may be fun to shade circles, we only shade: 1 slot for President, 1 slot for VP, 12 slots for senators, 1 congressman, 1 partylist, 1 governor (provincial), a number of provincial councilors depending on population size (provincial), 1 mayor, and a number of city councilors depending on population size. Shading one too many circles will render that particular section invalid. So if you shaded for 13 senators instead of 12, none of them will get your vote – but the rest of your ballot will be valid.
However, you can under vote. So if you choose to vote for only 8 out of 12 senators, all 8 candidates will get your vote. In the instances you decide to abstain from voting for a particular position, just leave the entire section unshaded.
It would be good to have a kodigo or sample ballot with you. You can download a sample of the ballot for your voting district here: http://www.comelec.gov.ph/
4. When you are done voting, proceed to the PCOS machine. Feed your ballot into the machine (any side up), like you would a crisp P20 bill into a vending machine. When you’ve gotten the ballot in there properly, the machine will print you a receipt. Smile and say thanks!
5. Return to the BOE desk to give back the folder and pen and get your right thumb inked.
Success! It really wasn’t so hard, right?
The elderly, handicapped, and illiterate may be assisted by a family member from the voting booth all the way until the PCOS machine.
I anticipate there may be people at the voting precinct holding up the line because they are unsure of how to go about this new process. Think of it as 300 people waiting in line at the ATM, all of them having no clue what to do when it’s their turn. Help them along with these guidelines.
Hope you can help me pass on this information to your friends, family, colleagues, household help, church, barangay, etc. etc.
It may be one vote, but it is one vote. Let’s help make all the one votes count!
Thank you for reading this! And to those political mudslingers who spam my cellphone inbox at 3am, you guys are scumbags!
Cheers,
Cels
PS: I’m not affiliated with the COMELEC or any poll watch group, so everything here is summarized from:
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