Comelec: People in precincts’ 30-meter perimeter by 7pm can still vote

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia — Inquirer file photo by Niño Jesus Orbeta

MANILA, Philippines — Individuals lining up within the 30-meter perimeter of polling precincts by 7:00 p.m. can still vote even after voting hours, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairperson George Garcia reminded the public on Monday.

In a press briefing, Garcia said there may be areas that would have their voting hours extended, particularly in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), due to elections starting a bit later than expected.

The Comelec chief was referring to the incident in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao where voting was delayed after supporters of rival political camps blocked the transport of election materials.

READ: Maguindanao town voting held as rivals block poll materials transport

“With almost one hour remaining before our voting hours close, there are areas where a lot of people are still queuing to vote inside precincts.  And therefore, there is a possibility, especially in the Bangsamoro area, that after exactly seven o’clock in the evening, voting would still continue,” Garcia said in Filipino.

“Because our rule is that as long as there are voters within the 30-meter radius from polling precincts, they will be allowed to vote,” he added.

Garcia also noted that while no failure of elections have been declared, there may be areas which would have voting hours extended up to Tuesday, May 13.

Some of the areas include polling precincts where ballots were affected, particularly the issue of timing marks either being absent or damaged.

“Now, there are some precincts in the country that may need to extend their voting hours, meaning that while there is no failure of election, we need to extend voting hours because simply, we are finding out the issue with their ballots,” Garcia said in Filipino.

“The issue with their ballots stems from the timing marks, which were not read by the machines.  And therefore, we ordered immediately this afternoon the reprinting of the ballots in at least 15 precincts in different areas of the country.  We are going to tell you what these more or less 15 precincts are, but we cannot just disregard these, and we will have to continue with the election in these particular precincts,” he added.

Voting hours were from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., with persons with disabilities, senior citizens, and pregnant women being allowed to vote earlier, starting at 5:00 a.m.

Several issues were reported in the first hours of voting. Garcia admitted that Comelec replaced 311 automated counting machines due to issues with the scanners, thermal printers, thermal papers, and other materials.

Still, Garcia said this was way below what the country experienced during the 2022 national elections, wherein over 2,000 machines malfunctioned.

The Comelec is currently using new machines after the poll body and South Korean firm Miru Systems Co. Ltd. inked an almost P18-billion contract for the lease of an automated election system.