Monday, August 06, 2007 October polls ‘to beat’ May By Linette C. Ramos Sun.Star Staff Reporter
IF the trend continues, local poll officials are expecting more Filipinos to exercise their right of suffrage in the barangay elections in October than in the midterm elections last May.
Family relations, no matter how distant, and the influence of both candidates and voters even in the smallest villages come into play, said Regional Election Director Rey Buac.
“A barangay election is different in the sense that the people vote at a more personal level. The voter is the candidate’s relative, neighbor, his neighbor’s neighbor or relative. The voter and candidate are from the same neighborhood so there’s active participation from both parties,” Buac explained.
The Cebu City Comelec south district office is expecting an increase of up to 10,000 in the number of registered voters. It has 251,532 registered voters as of May 28.
In the north, which has 209,449 registered voters, an additional 11,000 voters are expected.
In his 23 years in the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Buac said the trend showing that more voters show up in barangay elections than in national elections still holds true.
Voter turnout during barangay polls can go as high as 90 percent of the total number of registered voters, as opposed to 68 to 75 percent in national elections, he said.
In Cebu City, only 68.75 percent of the 460,978 registered voters voted in the May 14 polls.
Unlike in the national elections where the candidates are almost unknown to most voters, candidates in the barangay polls are usually active or popular personalities in the villages.
“On the part of the voters, ganahan gyud sila mubotar kay ila mang paryente or silingan. On the part of the candidate, they will also encourage their constituents to vote,” Buac added.
His observations were proven in the first few days of the registration period, when barangay vehicles ferried registrants from different barangays.
That the Cebu City poll offices have been flooded with requests for transfer of voters’ registration records since the start of the registration also supports the trend.
“Daghan kaayog voters requesting for the transfer of their records, which is expected. Kay manghakot man dayon na ang mga mukandidato, then ang mga botante, mubalhin sad gyud ug asa mudagan ilang paryente ug mga amigo (For barangay elections, voters tend to move to where their relatives or friends are running for office),” City Election Officer for the North District Marchel Sarno said.
The Comelec reminded registrants who have yet to submit their biometrics data that they have only until Aug. 12 to do so.
Also, the registration period for the Sanggu-niang Kabataan elections ended smoothly yesterday, without complaints from the public school teachers facilitating the list-up in the barangay halls.
