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By Vir B. Lumicao
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| Voting rooms now have these notices about the ban on phones and cameras |
The use of cellphones and cameras is no longer allowed inside
voting precincts at Bayanihan Centre, where the overseas voting for Filipinos
in Hong Kong is being held.
Members of the special board of election inspectors (SBEIs)
started banning the devices today, Apr 15, after questions were raised
yesterday about some voters openly using their telephones, supposedly to copy off
them the names of their favored candidates.
From day one, voters had been told that the use of
telephones was not allowed inside the voting area. But they can bring in slips
of paper with the names of their preferred candidates, should they need them as
reminders.
Meanwhile, the number of voters on the first weekday of
voting has noticeably dropped, but the exact turnout for the day could not be
immediately ascertained. A Consulate officer said only Consul General Antonio
Morales should be giving updates.
However, another officer noted that there were more arrivals
in the afternoon than in the morning and expressed hope that at the end of the
day, the turnout could reach 500.
In the first two days of the election, about 2,500
registered voters had cast their ballots, said Congen Morales.
Today, Bayanihan was noticeably quiet, with many voters
arriving singly, although by the afternoon, a few had come in pairs, or in big
groups.
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| A lone voter inside an election precinct |
Unlike yesterday when about 2,500 people voted, there was no
machine malfunction, perhaps because fewer ballots were fed into them.
“Siguro hindi nakayanan yung dami ng mga tao kahapon kaya
nagkaproblema. Ngayon naman ay maayos ang mga VCM,” said one inspector.
Poll watchers were also a lot fewer than over the weekend,
with only five representing various political parties and party-lists.
A watcher for the Liberal Party, the only major party accredited
in Hong Kong , rued that the SBEIs still
refused to provide the total figure on the VCMs from the previous day’s vote.
Outside, exit poll takers from the Duterte Diehard
Supporters said one voter had complained that she had to feed her ballot twice
into the machine before it was accepted.
They warned voters to make sure the machines reflect the
names of those they voted for, saying that in the past election, “nagkaroon ng
dayaan.”
However, during a briefing four months ago by Commission on
Elections official Rowena Guanzon, the same DDS group was stumped when asked
how could there have been cheating when their candidate won the vote.
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