The Philippine Online Chronicles

Am I glad to finally get the voting process over with. Having been granted Comelec accreditation, I had an ID to take photos inside my precinct. I arrived at my clustered precinct 221 in Pasig City, District 2 at 5:30 in the morning. The BEI, the PPCRV and even the PCOS technician were already there. I brought Diding, my helper, along and took a photo of her going through the process. I made sure she brought her ID card with her. Others had to go home because they forgot to bring their IDs. There was some chaos at first because they wanted to let the senior citizens in. Some voters complained that they had been in line first. Considering there are 1,500 senior citizens out of 3,500 voters in that precinct, it seemed terribly unfair for those in the queue. That plan was immediately scrapped.

Earlier, the PCOS machine was still in the box and so was the ballot paper and at 6:30 a.m., the BEI made sure that we witnessed the opening of the sealed box.

Shortly before 7 a.m., the box was opened in front of the poll watchers and myself.

Even the ballot paper was shown to us.

My queue number was 19 at around 7:30 a.m. Despite shading a bit over the ovals, the ballot paper went through the PCOS machine. It was a success. I took a photo of Diding, my helper (dressed in red) as she shaded her ballot.

Her ballot easily went through without any problem. You can see the spare battery beside the PCOS machine. They are all set.

And this is my dirty finger, stained even underneath.

The lines are getting longer. It is only 8 a.m.

Photos by author. Some Rights Reserved.