ON THE eve of Election Day, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) urged the more than 52 million registered voters to take time and complete their list of candidates whom they will vote for when they troop to their respective polling precincts.
Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes advised Filipinos to sit down this weekend, and start making their list of candidates so that they can vote easier and faster come Election Day, on May 13.
"This Sunday, we should already be done with our choices of candidates. We should already start writing down our list so that when Monday comes, we already have our list of candidates listed," said Brillantes.
This way, the poll chief said it will not take too long for each voter to complete casting their votes, which would then result to shorter queues in polling precincts.
He also advised the public to take time to know the number of their choice of candidates in order to make it easier for them to find the ovals in the ballots.
In particular, he said the numbers would be helpful in finding party-list choices.
"Let us shorten our time by taking note of the number. This is the reason we placed numbers there instead of still looking for only one name (for party-list)," said Brillantes.
And when voting, he said the public should be conscious of the new threshold in shading, which is 20 percent.
The voting threshold, which tells the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines on which votes are actual votes and which are ambiguous marks, refers to the amount of shade an oval receives.
"But we don't want to stress that point. What we want is for you to really shade it. Not an 'x' mark or a check mark, but shade," said Brillantes.
He also warned against over-voting, which is when one gets to shade ovals more than what is required in a particular position, since it could nullify their votes in the concerned post.
"In the case of senators, make sure they are only 12 or lower… it cannot be higher than 12," said Brillantes.
For her part, Comelec Commissioner Grace Padaca strongly urged voters to make use of the ballot secrecy folders provided inside polling precincts.
She said this would ensure that nobody can see who you are voting for as required by the law.
"Let us make use of the secrecy folders so that no one will know whom you voted for," said Padaca in her Twitter account (@gracempadaca).
Finally, the Comelec head said the public should be conscious on the manner by which they feed their accomplished ballots to the PCOS machines.
He said it is important not to "force feed" the ballots into the machines since it might prod it to be jammed.
"Do not shove it into the machine. The machine will just suck it up. Pushing it hard might jam the machine," said Brillantes.
On Monday, 52,333,801 voters are expected to troop to the 36,772 voting centers nationwide to cast their votes for the midterm elections.
Over 18,000 posts are being contested, including 12 senators; 233 district congressmen; 58 party-list representatives; 80 provincial governors; 80 provincial vice governors; 766 provincial board members; 143 city mayors; 143 city vice mayors; 1,598 city councilors; 1,491 municipal mayors; 1,491 municipal vice mayors; 11,932 municipal councilors; as well as 1 Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor; 1 regional vice governor; and 24 regional assemblymen.
This would mark the second nationwide automated elections in the country, with the first one held last 2010. (HDT/Sunnex)