Over 84,000 approved local absentee voters allowed to cast their votes until Friday, April 29, for na’l elective posts
(Eagle News) – The first day of the local absentee voting on Wednesday, April 27, was “generally peaceful” and orderly, according to the Commission on Elections (COMELEC).
The three-day local absentee voting will give over 84,000 public and private employees who have applied to vote ahead of the May 9 national and local polls a chance to cast their votes.
The local absentee voting will last until Friday, April 29.
Among those who can vote ahead of the May 9 polls are the personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), other government agencies, and members of the press, according to the Comelec.
“Generally peaceful talaga. Walang untoward incident,” said Comelec commissioner George Garcia assessing the first day of the local absentee voting.
No less than Comelec chair Saidamen Pangarungan and Commissioner Aimee Neri cast their votes at the Comelec main office. Pangarungan is registered in Marawi City while Commissioner Neri is registered in Cagayan de Oro.
Members of the media who came to the Comelec office to vote on Wednesday, did so at the Comelec’s National Capital Region Office, which was near the Comelec main office.
Commissioner Garcia said that voting period for the local absentee voting is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Local absentee voters can only vote for national positions: one each for president and vice president, 12 senators and one party-list group, using manual ballots.
“The counting and canvassing of votes on May 9 at 7 p.m. will be done by the Committee on Local Absentee Voting (CLAV), the venue will be on the 3rd and 4th floors of the Bureau of Treasury, Palacio del Gobernador, Intramuros. All candidates will be notified so they can send their watchers to observe,” Garcia said.
“The CLAV will create a Special Board of Election Inspectors (SBEI) to count the votes. They are all from the Commission, he said.
Garcia said that for PNP, AFP and other government offices, the head of the office will conduct the voting. The head of the government office will also be the one to “distribute to the local absentee voters their ballots.”
“Then the voters will accomplish the ballots, after that, they will give it back to the head who will collect all envelopes containing the accomplished ballots, then transmit it back to the Electoral Contests Adjudication Department (ECAD),” Garcia added.
(With a report from NET25’s Madelyn Villar Moratillo, Eagle News Service)
