AT LEAST THREE THOUSAND voters from just one Manila barangay were unable to cast their votes today after they failed to find their names in the voters list in their precinct in Paaralang Quirino Almario in Tondo, Manila.
The incident cast a cloud over what appeared to generally be peaceful and orderly midterm elections in the country. The problem is also one of the most common encountered by Filipino voters who come out every three years to elect their local and national officials.
According to Malou Olanga, poll watcher of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), some two to three thousand voters from barangay 20 chose to go home instead of casting their votes. Olanga said the disgruntled voters were unable to find their names in the voters list posted outside the polling precinct in the school.
The Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) advised the voters to check their names and precinct numbers against the list of the PPCRV. While the voters found their names in the PPCRV list, they were not listed in the official voters list of the Comelec.
The three thousand disenfranchised voters account for 15 percent of the 20,000 registered voters from barangay 20 in Manila. As of posting time, the Comelec has not been able to resolve the issue, and the disenfranchised voters have already gone home.
Belinda Garcia, a ten-year PPCRV volunteer, said that as early as 7 a.m. voters were already complaining that they could not find their names on the master voter’s list of their assigned precincts.
Garcia says that missing names and misplaced precincts are two of the most common problems they encounter during elections.
This year, however, she along with other PPCRV volunteers were surprised to note that most of the complainants come from the same barangay – barangay 20 in Tondo.
Garcia says that she had already called up the Comelec office to report and ask for assistance, however she further claims that by midday no one from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) came to respond.
“Tinawagan namin ang Comelec, mga bandang 10am. Ang sabi, magpapadala sila pero hanggang ngayon wala pa,” Garcia said while checking her watch.
As a result, voters are forced to manually look up for their names from the stacks of pages of 2004 elections master voter’s list copy provided to PPCRV.
Unfortunately, only a few stayed and patiently sifted through the stacks of papers looking for their names. Many—visibly exasperated—simply left and refused to exercise their right to vote.
“Yung iba nakikita nila ‘yung pangalan nila dito, pero pagbalik nila sa mga presinto, wala pa rin. Bumabalik ‘yung iba dito, pero karamihan umuuwi na,” Garcia said.