Reminders to Voters

Here's to a new Philippine Automated Election May 8 2010 Precint Finder and Reminders by Budjette Tan...

Reminders to Voters


Here are some helpful reminders to remember on Election Day. Please take a few minutes to read it and share with your family and friends.


Know your precinct number before the actual election. Ask your local Comelec or go to Comelec's Precinct Finder athttp://www.comelec. gov.ph/precinctf inder/precinctfi nder.aspx..(It really works but I guessit's slower now after only a day to vote)


Prepare your codigo. Prepare a list of candidates of choice before going to your precinct to make the voting process faster.



Polls open at exactly 7:00am on May 10 and close at 6:00 pm. Try to be there before opening in case there’s a line. Remember since automated election is new, you should expect a lot of confusion and longer voting time so VOTE EARLY.


Make a visual inspection of the ballot provided by the Board of Election Inspector (BEI). Make sure the ballot is clean and free of marks before accepting it from the BEI. Do not accept ballots with marks or dirt because the PCOS machines may be unable to read them. You get ONE CHANCE to ask for a change of ballot.


Use only the pen provided by the BEI in shading.


Make sure you fully shade the ovals, or the machine might reject your ballot for having "ambiguous marks." DO NOT check, line, cross, dot or half-shade. Make an effort to shade within the outline of the oval.


Do not over-vote, otherwise the PCOS machine will not read the votes for that position. Vote only for the number of candidates allowed per position. The allowable number will be stipulated in your ballot. You may, however, vote for less than the required number.


Do not fold the ballot.


Only one ballot per voter. You will not be given another ballot if you make a mistake while voting.


Your ballot will only be read by one specific PCOS Unit to which it was pre-registered. Make sure you line up at the correct machine.


You get FOUR tries to feed the ballot through the PCOS Unit. You can put it in forward, backward, right side up or back side up so relax and make sure you get the ballot through in four tries.


After inserting your ballot into the PCOS Unit, wait for the read out to see if your ballot was successfully scanned. It should read: "Congratulations! Your ballot has been scanned."


If a precinct runs out of ballots, a voter can still cast his vote in the next nearest precinct. The BEI should accompany the voter after giving the latter a certification.


Only the BEI can hand out ballots. Not even local officials, Comelec personnel and Smartmatic technicians can interfere. Also, no one should tinker with the PCOS machines during voting time.


Voters should makes sure they sign the voters’ list at the start, and have their fingernail marked with indelible ink at the end. This is one safeguard against "flying voters".


Make sure you affix your signature and thumbprints in the necessary forms.


At the end of the voting period, the PCOS Unit will print out the vote count on a paper, similar to a cash register receipt. The print out will be put in a sealed box and sent to Comelec for proper disposition. The machine will also count the number of voters based on ballots inserted into each PCOS Unit. Make sure to watch the screen for voter count as well as other important messages it may display.


The allotted voting time is from 7am to 6pm. Voters who are within 30 meters from the precinct or are still in line after 6pm can still vote. They should have their names listed down by the BEI. Voting should continue until everyone within 30 meters of the precinct or in line has voted.


Armed police, military, para-military forces, security guards, barangay officials, armed goons and supporters of politicians who are campaigning are barred from the polling precinct. The BEI should send them out.


Check your precinct and confirmed registration here.
www.comelec. gov.ph