Comelec: Eat first, be early

LAWYER Wilfred Jay Balisado, Commission on Elections (Comelec)-Davao regional director, urged the voting public and the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) alike to be prepared for a long day as the midterm automated election kicks off today, May 13.

Balisado told Sun.Star Davao in a phone interview, "Ang panawagan nako sa mga botante kay magsayo sila ug adto sa ilang respective polling centers ug unta dili sila manobra ug botar para dili masayang ang mga ballots. Unta pud i-attend na nila ilang mga personal needs like mangihi daan o magkaon daan usa muboto para wa nay langay (I am urging the voters to be at their polling centers early and that they do not shade more than the number of candidates needed so as not to waste the ballots. I also hope that they will attend to their personal needs like urinating and eating ahead so there won't be any delays.)"

He also said voters could cast their votes for as short as five minutes if they have already prepared a list of their bets.

"BEIs will only call the names of the voters once when they have already signed up to vote. If they are not around when they are called, they won't be called again. So I am advising voters to be always present and be attentive," Balisado said.

Balisado also reminded BEIs to follow the guidelines in handling the electoral process to avoid any controversies and allegations of electoral fraud.

He also made clear that candidates who will try to launch any form of campaign during the Election Day will be dealt with as he has already briefed law enforcers to reprimand or apprehend anyone who will do so.

Balisado also said there are only eight defective Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines in the entire region and he has already filed a request to Comelec-Manila. He said the replacement PCOS machines were being delivered last night.

But he clarified that the number defective PCOS machine is insignificant given that voters can still cast their votes even without a PCOS machine in a certain polling center.

"Their official ballots will still be collected and it will be fed to another PCOS machine in a nearby polling center so there is still no problem with that," Balisado said.

"We are all set for the Election Day and we are hoping that no untoward incidents will happen. We can assure that the voting process will be fast with the cooperation of the voters and we assure that we will be transparent," Balisado added.

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