A Few Reminders Before Voting [a quick checklist]

Tuesday, 04 May 2010 23:45 Sonnie Santos

Find out beforehand your Voter's ID number, precinct number, and your sequence number (the number beside your name in the voter's list). This will speed up your voting process.
- You can check your precinct number here or copy paste this url to your browser http://www.comelec.gov.ph/precinctfinder/precinctfinder.aspx
- To find the location of your voting center, go to find your precinct or copy paste this url to your browser http://www.findyourprecinct.ph/
Bring an ID [Voter's ID is best], to present to the BEI (Board of Elections Inspector), just in case.
Bring a list of your chosen candidates on a piece of paper so you won't spend too much time filling out the ballot.
Polls open on May 10, 2010 at 7 a.m. and close at 6 p.m.
The ballot is said to be sensitive to marks [ink, dirt, scratches, folds] which may render them illegible to the PCOS.
- Keep your hands very clean before voting.
- The indelible ink will be put on your finger after you're done voting, and not before.
- Your ballot will be given to you in a "Ballot Secrecy Folder" to avoid smudging the ballot with unecessary marks.
Your ballot will have a barcode. If it is tampered in any way [smudged, scratched] the ballot will be spoiled.
- Watch carefully who handles your ballot. Intentional or not, a scratch in the barcode from a fingernail will prevent your ballot from being counted.
Upon receiving your ballot, inspect it for smudges and dirt, specially the barcode. You only have one chance to have your ballot changed but this may cause unnecessary inconvenience.
Shade the egg-shaped hole beside your chosen candidate with a marker. Don't put a [/], [-], [x], [.], or half-shade it, otherwise PCOS will not read your vote.
Vote only for the exact number of candidates that you should vote for [1 president, 1 vice president, 12 senators, 1 party list, 1 mayor, 1 vice mayor, 1 member of the House of Representatives, etc]. If you vote for more than the stipulated number, that particular portion of the ballot is spoiled. You may, however, vote for less (as in, if you can't find 12 worthy senatoriables to vote for, it's all right to vote for less than 12).
You have maximim of 4 attempts to feed your ballot through the PCOS unit, otherwise, your vote will not be counted.
Check the readout on the PCOS Unit when you feed your ballot into it, it should "Congratulations! Your ballot has been scanned."
The ballot you are given will only be readable by one specific PCOS Unit [ only one machine will be able to read your ballot where it is pre-registered there]. Don't line up in the wrong machine; your ballot won't be read, and it may spoil your vote.
You'll still be asked to do the usual signing of forms and marking of thumbprints.