By Vir B. Lumicao
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| The day's unprecedented turnout led to long queues at the Bayanihan voting centre |
Votes cast today, Apr 28, in the overseas voting for
Filipinos in Hong Kong reached around 4,200, the highest so far since the start
of the month-long political exercise two weeks ago.
The heavy turnout today for the Philippines’mid-term
election drove up the total votes cast since Apr 13 to more than 16,400, or
close to 19% of the 87,441 registered voters.
The figure for the turnout was disclosed by election
supervisor Consul Robert Quintin in a media briefing at Bayanihan Centre where
the voting is being held.
But the surge in numbers also saw 28 overvotes, the highest
number so far in a single day. Quintin said the overvoting happened because
more than 12 tick boxes for senatorial candidates were shaded by each of the
voters.
He said no complaints were made because the voters realized
they had shaded 13 instead of 12 names. He said some of them copied off a list
handed to them outside Bayanihan without realizing 13 names were on it
Two voters reported discrepancies in their votes but did not
file a protest, Quintin said.
He added that one voter complained one candidate who she did
not vote appeared on her receipt. The voter filed a protest and it was sent to the
Commission on Elections.
Another watcher cited a case of discrepancy in the number of
voters she had noted on her notebook and the reading on a VCM in the precinct
where she was assigned.
But for those issues, the voting went on smoothly despite
the unprecedented turnout. The vote-counting machines which used to create the
most problems ran smoothly throughout the day.
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| Seats in each voting precinct are all occupied throughout most of the day |
Quintin said the election supervisors and back-up staff have
learned to deal with the early-day problems with the VCMs, such as paper jams
and ballot rejections
Volunteer marshals said swarms of voters began trooping to
Bayanihan Centre in Kennedy Town
Voter arrivals slowed to a trickle around noon but picked up
after lunch and became a steady stream until voting was declared closed at 5pm.
Seven senior citizens and one person with disability voted
on the ground floor of Bayanihan, and were assisted by the chairpersons of
their respective precincts and poll watchers.
Quintin said none of the nine men who voted today were
seafarers, but he added that in the past days, three of them came to cast their
votes.
One watcher asked whether those who have not voted in the
past two elections can still vote, and Quintin replied that they can’t because
the Comelec has deactivated their registration.
He said one voter realized this when she tried to vote but did
not find her name in the certified list of overseas voters.
But he said this was not the end of the line for them. If a
deactivated voter wants his or her voting right to be restored, he/she must
file at the Consulate a manifestation of intent to vote.
“Pipirma sila, we will send it to Comelec and then wait for
their feedback. Kukontakin namin uli ang voter para bumoto,” Quintin said.
He said there are around 3,000 deactivated voters on a list
provided by the Comelec.
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