Bring list of candidates to speed up process: Comelec to voters

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has encouraged voters to prepare a list of candidates when they cast their ballots on election day on Monday, May 13, to hasten the voting process.

Marchel Sarno, election officer of Cebu City’s south district, said they will allow voters to bring a list of candidates.

“I want to emphasize that voting time will really depend on the speed of the voter. We encourage voters to bring their own list,” he said.

Sarno said a voter may take at least three minutes to vote if he or she has not prepared a list of candidates.

Sarno said the process of verifying the identity of the voter through the voters registration and verification machine (VRVM) may only take less than a minute.

The VRVM, which is a new automated system to verify the identity of voters, will be used for the first time in the midterm elections.

Sarno said the feeding of the ballot in the vote counting machine (VCM) will take less than a minute, but the voting itself may take a while.

Once voters know their precinct numbers, they can immediately proceed to have their identities verified through the VRVM, he said.

After verification, voters will get their ballots, fill these out and feed these in the VCM.

On Monday, voting centers will officially open at 6 a.m. and close at 6 p.m.

Since a clustered voting precinct is expected to accommodate 800 to 1,000 voters, 12 voters may cast their votes simultaneously, Sarno said.

Right after the voting is closed, Sarno said results will be transmitted to the canvassing area. /