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| Voters get assistance. |
Only 304 voters cast their ballots in Hong Kong yesterday, Apr
11, the third day of the overseas voting for the 2016 Philippine national
elections.
This was not unusual for a weekday of voting, as most Filipinos
working and living in Hong Kong keep regular work hours during the week.
The lean numbers spared the vote counting machines installed
by the Commission on Elections from possible glitches, such as what happened on
Day One, when one such machine conked out and spoiled one ballot.
“So far no problem, just the usual wrong spellings,” said
Vice Consul Alex Vallespin, head of the Consulate’s 2016 electoral committee
that is conducting the overseas voting in Hong Kong.
Bayanihan Center in Kennedy Town, where the electoral
exercise is being held for a month until May 9, was quiet with few people
walking around in the premises, in sharp contrast to the 3,723 who braved the
inclement weather to vote last Sunday.
The Consulate announced on its Facebook site that so far
5,155 Hong Kong-based Filipinos had come out to elect their next president,
vice-president, 12 senators and one partylist.
Vallespin said problems regarding the spelling of voters’
names can be easily remedied through electronic communication with the Comelec
in Manila. A photocopy of the voter’s Hong Kong ID is sent to the Comelec as
proof of the correct name and if the election body approves the application, the
voter proceeds to the polling precincts.
He cited one case where the person’s surname on the consulate’s
voters list was Arcenal while it was Arcena on the Hong Kong ID.
Voters whose names are not in the Comelec list also present
another problem. In most cases, however, this is due to their registration
having been deactivated because of their failure to vote in two consecutive
elections. – Vir B. Lumicao
