ARE YOU VOTING FOR THE FIRST TIME? LET THESE TIPS FROM COMELEC HELP YOU

If you’re one of the five million youth voters who are voting for the first time, these tips from poll officials will come handy today. Local Commission on Elections (Comelec) officials urges voters to be prepared to wait in line and avoid delays by bringing a list of the candidates you want to vote for. Voters should also go to the polling places early so you’ll have time to look for your precinct. There will be no ovals to shade on the ballot since this is a manual election, so you’ll have to write the candidates’ names yourself. Write legibly, the Comelec asks.

Today, some 20 million youth voters will be casting their vote for Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials, and about five million will be doing it for the first time, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec). If you’re one of them, you’ll probably need some help figuring out the voting process. When in doubt, let these pointers from Comelec guide you.

1. Be prepared

With the heat and the large crowd that will gather in polling places, you’d want be done as soon as possible. To avoid any delay, a local poll official suggests writing down the names of your chosen candidates on a piece of paper and bringing the list with you inside the polling place. Take note: sample

2. Be on time

Polling centers open at 7 a.m. Go early so you’ll have time to spare in case you still need to check what precinct you belong to and look for the classroom where you will cast your vote.

3. Choose the right ballot

If you’re 15 to 17 years old, you will receive only one ballot, which is the SK ballot. Voters aged 18 to 30 years old will fill out both the SK and barangay ballots. Voters 31 years old and above will get only one ballot, the barangay ballot. In case you get confused, the text in the ballot for the barangay elections (right) is printed in black while the text in the official ballot

4. Manual, not automated

Unlike in previous elections, there will be no machines in the polling places, and the ballots will look different and may not be what you are expecting. Instead of shading ovals, this time, voters will have to write the name of the candidates they are voting for on the ballot. Remember to write legibly and to keep you ballot clean.

5. Eight positions

There will be eight candidates to vote for in the SK elections—one SK chairman and seven SK members. Writing more than eight names will render your vote for the ninth candidate invalid, so be careful and to stick to the rules.