Comelec to set up priority lanes for elderly during polls

Wednesday, 17 March 2010 11:41 AM Fidelis Angela Tan

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has approved a recommendation from Election and Barangay Affairs Department Director Teopisto Elnas, Jr. to extend “preferential treatment” to elderly, pregnant, and disabled voters during the country’s first automated elections in May.

Requests that special treatment be given to these vulnerable groups were also made by Senior Citizens party-list Representative Godofredo Arquiza, the Federation of Malabon Senior Citizens Association, and the Persons with Disabilities of the City of Malabon.

In a minute resolution released Tuesday, the poll body announced that either express lanes will be set up for the elderly, pregnant, and disabled, or special venues will be set up for them on the ground floors of the voting premises. Comelec said that this was for “humanitarian considerations” and to ensure a hassle-free voting experience.

Comelec added that those who are confused about the new process of voting can proceed to the help desks which will be manned by members of the citizens’ arm, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV).

The PPCRV members will be tasked with assisting voters in finding their precinct numbers, their sequence number in the list of voters, and the location of the voting venue. They will also provide instructions as to the proper way of filling out the ballots, which will no longer require a voter to write down the name of who they are voting for, but simply shade a mark beside the candidate’s name.

Registered voters who will be participating in the May polls have been repeatedly cautioned that shading the marks the wrong way might cause the new counting machines to reject the ballots. Ballots which cannot be read by the Precinct Count Optical Scan Machines will not be included in the count.

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