Comelec hoping ‘historic’ completion of vote canvassing on May 15

Metro Manila, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is hoping to complete the canvassing of votes on May 15, three days after the midterm polls.

If it succeeds, it would be the fastest canvassing of the poll body in its 85-year history.

The Comelec en banc, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers, began on Tuesday, May 13, the counting of votes in the 175 certificates of canvass (COC) from local absentee voting, highly urbanized cities, districts, provinces, and overseas posts.

On the first day of canvassing, 58 COCs were tallied. The Comelec is targeting to canvass 100 COCs on the second day and the remaining on Thursday.

“Nu’n pong nakaraan, dalawang linggo ‘yung canvassing, sobra ng dalawang linggo talaga ‘yun,” Comelec Chairman George Garcia said in a press conference.

[Translation: In the past, canvassing took two weeks or more.]

“Kahapon, 58, first time,” he said. “Dati po… unang araw, walang na-canvass kasi wala pang dumadating na COC.”

[Translation: Yesterday, 58 COCs, a record high. In the past, there was no canvass on the first day.]

If the National Board of Canvassers reaches its target, the proclamation of winning candidates may happen at the weekend.

Garcia said proclamation of candidates during the manual voting took up to a month while it was shortened to up to two weeks when elections were automated.