Election Update 1
//8:45 P.M.
UPDATE FROM Baguio I left cluster 77 and78 at 8:30 P.M. because the technician can't transmit data. It's either of poor signalor he doesn't knowthe procedureas he was trying earlier to transmit wothout antennas./ grace c.
//6:49 P.M.
UPDATE FROM Baguio Total of 480 out of 671 voted in cluster 77 and 451 out of 645 in cluster 78./ grace c.
//6:30 P.M.
COMELEC, in a press conference this afternoon, declared failure of elections in several towns, including Guimbal, Iloilo, a town in Samar, three towns in Lanao del Sur, and Basilan province.
Lack of training surfaces as a major problem in the current elections. PCOS machines failing because field technicians do not know how to insert the memory cards of the machines.
In Culiat, Quezon City, voters had to do manual voting because the PCOS machines were not available. The PCOS machine arrived around 2pm.
But, in less than two hours, they are back to manual voting. In addition, around 200 voters could not find their names in the precinct list of voters.
Names of people who are dead are in the voter’s list. Goons create chaos in a precinct in Abra. Some people went home without voting due to the tension.
A BEI chairperson telling people whom to vote in Abra. A lot of precincts still have a lot of people who have not voted.
Power failure, memory card, PCOS failure, long lines, can’t find names – most common complaints. PCOS machines continue to fail.
In many precincts, more than 50% of voters have not cast their ballot.
GMA7 Election Map shows voting problems far outweigh successful voting. If this continues, then we are headed for a failure of national elections.
//5:15 P.M.
Election process at Rafael Palma, Pasay City was orderly and transparent. No anomalous activities observed
//4:24 P.M.
Brgy Culiat Q.C. Representatives of local and national candidates are giving fyers inside the polling precincts. Manual voting conducted at 7 A.M. PCOS machines arrived at 2 P.M. Now the manual voting is starting again.
//3:39 P.M.
Everything is orderly in Mandaluyong. Out of 3,400 voters 4 ballots were rejected due to wrong shading. Voter turnout around 50% so far. It would have been much better if we got a receipt after putting our ballots in the machine to show us it really counted all the candidates we voted for. It's a shame the machine was not designed to do this.
//3:38 P.M.
One mayor will give me 3K just for me to give up my Perlas vote for Gibo. I told him I am willing to be the only PERLAS in my barangay./Moses of Silliman
//3:38 P.M.
Puerto Princesa precint 0426B got stuck in the machine. The processing is slow and the line is long
//3:37 P.M.
Brown out sa Salawag Elementary school sa Cavite. May PCOS machine na di gumana ang battery. May mga balotang mayroon nang shades.
//3:30 P.M.
UPDATE Baliwag, Bulacan Voting too slow. 2 machines not working in Brgy Pinagbarilan. Votings delayed.
//3:30 P.M.
Grabe po dito sa Brgy Tatalon. Nagkagulo sa pagkuha pa lang ng numero. Haba ng pila!/concerned citizen from Brgy Tatalon
//3:28 P.M.
Bry Libongcogon, Zarraga average of 4 hours lining up to vote. Am here now almost 30 minutes and line has not moved.
//1:15 P.M.
Cebu City What is your advice: one precinct of 8K voters with only 4 PCOS machines, processing only 10 voters per hour. Means only 120 voters by 7 P.M. Voter lists torn as poll volunteer left and voters grabbed at the lists themselves.
//12:20 P.M.
Political party personnel helping voters in Marawi City to shade their votes. This is an illegal practice.
Some ballots continue to be rejected by PCOS machine in Nueva Ecija.
In Guimbal, Iloilo, 300 voters could not vote because the wrong ballots arrived. Comelec declared suspension of voting.
In Capiz, people are not breaking line to eat. They do not want to lose their turn. People are getting angry due to the slowness of the process. BEI: “So far so good”. But people are disagreeing and complaining that only 10 voters have voted in the past 4 hours.
In Maguindanao, in the town of Datu Unsay, explosions also occurred. No voting for many hours.
Also in Maguindanao, BEI influencing voters whom to vote on the basis of slips of paper.
Northern Maguindanao, goons of two candidates shoot each other, killing at least one person.
//12:20 P.M.
Comelec website shuts down. Overwhelmed by voters looking for their precincts.
Only 15% of PCOS machines ready several hours after elections opened this morning according to www.gmanews. tv.
No compact flash cards in some precincts.
Four die of election related violence in Cotobato and Sibugay.
Comelec Command Center at PICC convenes National Board of Canvassers.
Comelec extends voting hours to 7pm. Comelec Chairman Melo did not expect the slow pace of the voting and high turnout of voters.
Comelec Spokesman Jimenez: Assessment. As expected some machines will not function. 300 PCOS machines malfunctioning. 250 PCOS replaced. Still within safe limits expected by Comelec. Re missing flash cards. Not to worry. Overall, elections are doing well and results will be respected by the people. By 4 to 5am tomorrow can declare winners in municipal connections. (Interview done by 24 Oras, GMA7).
//11:26 P.M.
1. Nick and Chris Perlas were at University of Asia and the Pacific before 7 A.M. I arrived shortly afterwards. Their clustered precinct was 137.
2. Media coverage at the polling place: GMA7 Nelson Canlas; ABC 5- Zai Feniza; Philippine Daily Inquirer reporter DJ Yap and photographer Abellana;
Sunstar Virgil Lopez, Businessworld Grace Gato. Philippine Star's reporter Rainier Rondo and photographer confirmed coverage but I didn't see them after I lined up to vote at 7:20 A.M. The TV coverage was aired live. Phil Star reporter Rainier later on requested for a interview with Nick. GMA 7 invited Nick to guest on Election 2010 at around midnight with hosts Arnold Clavio and Connie Sison.
3. I lined up at clustered precinct 138 at 7:20 A.M. and finished voting successfully at 9:45 A.M. Between 7 A.M. and 8 A.M. there was a lot of confusion in the polling place,with people trying to find their clustered precinct with the help of PPCRV volunteers and Comelec authorized support staff and looking for the end of the line that will lead them to their designated precinct. Finally, after an hour, a system of sorts emerged and the line was moving.People were saying that it was taking a long time to initialize the PCOS machines. Still there were people who insisted on jumping the line. In precinct 138 a mother and daughter whom I know since they are my neighbors were allowed by 4 people wearing yellow t- shirts with black philippine map to sit with them. I reported this to the PPCRV and Comelec support staff since there were 4 witnesses but they didn't do anything about it. I went to the PPCRV table and reported the same thing but still nothing was done, By the time I got back to the precinct the two were already voting. When they came out I told them that 4 of us witnessed that they jumped the line. And the mother said, they asked their neighbors ( the ones wearing yellow) to reserve their place in the queue.The other witnesses commented that when confronted the people involved couldn't really deny it. In precinct 136, a senior citizen doctor and his daughter also a doctor were complaining that several senior citizens were allowed to jump the line but they were not allowed to do so. They also complained that the gay assistant of the barangay captain's partner was allowed to jumped the line ahead of them. While we were still in the queue, there was an announcement from the PPCRV head Mr. Cordova that voters should check their ballots carefully because at precinct 139 a ballot was given to a voter that was already filled up.
4. After I voted I helped out at the PPCRV desk . I completely forgot that I was a PPCRV volunteer! Hahahaha! I took down a complaint as follows:
In Precinct 139 a ballot filled in with Villar was given to a voter who was a friend of a certain Bojie Cabreza. The voter showed it to the election chairman of the precinct who replaced it with a new ballot and the filled ballot was set aside. The report was filed by Julia Labao who is a watcher for the Liberal party.
I submitted the report to Mrs. Cordova for filing with the PPCRV. I also told Julia Labao to look for the Comelec support staff and file a similar report.
5. Problems at the PPCRV assistance desk included people not finding their names on the master list or on the supplementary list. A couple by the name of Barranechea said they checked with Comelec on May 9 and their names were in master list. I told them that the electionchairman of the precinct where they are supposed to go to had a master list with photos and thumb marks so if they want to take the chance and stand in line for 2 to 2 and half hours to check this. And they agreed to stand in line and take the risk because they really wanted to vote for God and country..Bravo citizens! Also assisted so many senior citizens, disabled people and voters with health conditions and gave instructions that only the precinct's election chairman can decide on a case to case basis if they will be allowed to jump the line. But not all of the precinct chairmen allowed senior citizens and those with health conditions to jump the line.
Two men said they knew their precincts but did not want us to check their clustered precinct and they didn't line up.Another PPCRV volunteer confirmed that this was very suspicious.
/ cecille ferrer
//11:01 A.M.
PCOS machine shut down all of a sudden in Tarlac where Noynoy about to
vote. Noynoy not able to vote because of the breakdown of PCOS machine.
//10:35 A.M.
Line management not good. People are overtaking other people, causing confusion and anger.
Close to 500 voters in Makati, mostly informal settlers, disqualified from voting, due to residency questions.
Reports coming in from Cebu that indigenous people are getting restless in connection with the chaos that is starting to occur in their precinct.
Shooting of political headquarters in Concepcion, Iloilo. Some towns in Iloilo no electricity.
//10:01 A.M.
Nagbablot po yung marker sa likod ng balota. Hindi hinihingi yung ID bago ibigay yung balota. Tinitingnan lang yung picture ng botante kapag naipasok na ang balota sa PCOS machine./Erwin Rafael
Kailangan ba talaga ang Watcher? Kasi ang dami-dami nila sa loob pero wala silang ginagawa, pampasikip lang. Ni hindi nila ina-assist yung isang matanda, ang laging sagot, "Tanong nyo po dun".. saka wala na silang hinihinging ID, maski yung Comelec Application/Registration Stub, di na nila tinitingnan./Boszing Baet
our line was long but the COMELEC person was very strict he really follwed the rules 2 thumbmarks first before voting/Tess Bello
Very long lines and people getting angry; some going home not voting because either they are angry or they have health problems;
hot, asthma; cant stand long lines
Some explosions in Maguindanao
PCOS eating ballots
People still giving out campaign materials in Tarlac; not stopped
Campaign intimidation and violence
Compact flash cards – not clear if reinstalled properly
//9:30 A.M.
UPDATE from Bel-Air Makati: 2 hours to queue, I started at 7 and voted at 9. There was no UV lamp to verify my ballot's authenticity. It was easy to go to the PCOS machine, security was lax. Queues were long but manageable, people were following rules.
I voted for you today, sir. God bless the Philippines./ Diana Macasaet
//9:01 A.M.
UPDATE BALIWAG, BULACAN - Mahaba ang pila sa mga presinto; 2 PCOS machine sira sa Brgy. Pinagbarilan. Magulo ang pila, may mga nag-aaway, walang secrecy folders ang ilang presinto. - DAVE
From Binalbagan, Negros Occidental. Noynoy and Mar
Roxas people are vote buying at the rate of P400 per person.
UPDATE FROM CEBU: Precint 1979A-556, only ten voters from 8-8:30 am. At thus rate we will be voting by 6pm.
//9:00 A.M.
It looks like if this early trend continues, there will be a failure of the country's first automated elections.
Kindly note that this is just a list of problems encountered. It does not give the extent of these problems.
Election Update 10 May 2010.
http://www.nicanor-perlas.com/News/election-udate-1.html
