Important election reminders for all registered voters

This Monday, May 9, we all march to our respective polling precinct to exercise our right to vote. But before doing so, we should know how to go about the voting process properly to make our votes count.

[ads1]

Before the elections

• Educate yourself about the voting process. You can find videos showing the step-by-step voting process, from getting your ballot to putting your voting receipt in the ballot box.
• Prepare your list of candidates on paper. Even if you are quite confident with your memory, you can still finish voting more quickly if you can glance at your list every now and then. Make sure to write the names of your candidates on paper because you cannot use your phone in the precinct.
• Find your precinct. Before you can get your hands on that all-important ballot, you need to know where your precinct is. You can use a precinct finder site, like GMA News Online’s Find Your Precinct page. According to GMA, it is the mirror service, or a similar page, to the COMELEC’s Precinct Finder facility.

During the elections

• Vote early. The polling precincts open from 6am to 5pm on May 9, giving you 11 hours to use the tip of your pen to determine the next leader of the country.
• Double check whether you’ve come to the right voting precinct. You can do this by searching for your precinct beforehand. If you cannot find your name, then report it to the assistance desk and ask for clarifications.
• Don’t tamper with your ballot. Otherwise, your vote will go to waste because tampered ballots will not be used.
• COMELEC provides the markers used in voting. You don’t have to bring a marker or pen.

When voting

1. Keep your votes to yourself. This is why we use the Ballot Secrecy Folder.
2. Shade the right oval. Some people have turned to social media claiming that their voting receipt showed the wrong name from who they actually voted for. But Comelec lawyer tried to verify such claims and came up with the theory that some people could have been mistaken in shading the right oval, choosing instead to shade the oval after the name of their candidate instead of the oval to the left of the name.
3. Protect your ballot and keep it pristine. No matter how emotional you might be to practice your right to vote, don’t let your tears, or anything else, damage your ballot.
4. Get ready to feed your ballot into the Vote Counting Machine (VCM).
5. Insert the ballot yourself into the VCM slot and wait for it to display the names of all your candidates.
6. Return the folder and the marker to the poll clerk.
7. Verify the names flashed on the screen of the VCM while voting for a voter’s receipt. Only the poll staff is allowed to cut the receipt from the machine.
8. Get an indelible ink for your forefinger and wait for the poll clerk to give you your voter’s receipt.
9. Look for the Voter’s Receipt Receptacle, usually it’s just beside the VCM. Make sure the names of the candidates you voted for are the ones reflected in the voter’s receipt.
10. Call for the poll clerk’s attention regarding any issues during the elections.
11. After voting, leave the poll precinct to give way to the arrival of new voters.

This Monday, feel empowered by the fact that you are casting a vote, not only for yourself, but also for the good of all the Filipinos.