Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 30) — The country’s poll body is expecting more registered voters to participate in the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataang Elections on Monday.
In a briefing, Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesperson Rex Laudiangco said they hope to record a voter turnout of as high as 80%.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia, who will make the rounds in various voting centers, earlier said they were expecting a voter turnout of 70% to 75%.
“Hopefully 75%, kasi noong 2015 and 2018, nagra-range sa 70-71% ang voter turnout. Ngayon, walang kadahilanan para hindi makaboto dahil mahaba ang bakasyon ngayon,” he said in an ambush interview.“Inaasahan natin na mas mataas ang bilang ng mga botante ng taong ito,” Garcia.[Translation: Hopefully 75%, because in 2015 and 2018, voter turnout ranged from 70-71%. Today, there is no reason not to vote because we have a long vacation. We expect a higher turnout this year.]
The Comelec earlier said there were more than 91 million registered voters.
Garcia said the opening of nearly 202,000 polling precincts was generally orderly.The regular voting hours run from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.However, early voting hours allocated for the vulnerable sector, including persons with disabilities, senior citizens, and pregnant women, faced some issues as they had to sign a waiver to allow their ballots to be brought from their precinct.Garcia asked for patience and understanding since this was the first time that the Comelec implemented such a window voting hour, which was from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m.The early voting hours were only open for citizens in Muntinlupa and Naga City.But the Comelec official said the issues would be resolved once they implement it at the national level.
Despite the issues, Laudiangco said the pilot testing of early voting in Muntinlupa City and Naga City was successful. They also target to implement the schedule in the 2025 elections.
