Comelec sees 80% voter turnout for BSKE

AUTOMATED POLLS. Voters feed their ballots into a vote counting machine (VCM) at the Pasong Tamo Elementary School in Quezon City on Monday (Oct. 30, 2023) for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE). (Photo: Joey O. Razon via Philippine News Agency/Facebook)

Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said this is based on initial reports of many voters trooping to poll centers.

“Coming from 2018 and prior to the 2013 polls, the record is 70 percent (voter turnout). We are hoping that it will reach 80 percent based on the number of voters in polling centers,” he said in a press briefing.

“We are witnesses on how important barangay (officials) especially during the pandemic. We saw how they were involved in all aspects of people’s lives,” he added.

Early voting

Laudiangco reported that many members of the vulnerable sector have participated in early voting, which was pilot-tested in two areas.

“Our senior citizens, they went early to their assigned polling centers to vote,” he said.

The Comelec pilot-tested the implementation of the early voting in Muntinlupa City and Naga City.

Laudiangco assured they will continue to hold early voting in future polls sans a law providing such privilege.

“In the absence of a law, we would be happy to implement early voting in 2025,” he added.

Automated polls

Laudiangco said they have yet to receive any complaints on vote counting machines that malfunctioned during the pilot testing of automated polls in three areas –Barangay Poblacion Zone 2 and Paliparan 3 in Dasmariñas City, Cavite and Barangay Pasong Tamo in Quezon City.

“So far, no reports yet on machines that failed to function. Rest assured that we are ready to immediately replace them. We have standby machines, in case we need replacement,” the poll body official said.

Laudiangco, meanwhile, said mall voting in several areas in Metro Manila, Cebu and Bicol were also successful.

“Our mall voting is a blockbuster,” he said.

The voting will end at 3 p.m.

Earlier, the Comelec said it expects to proclaim BSKE winners on Monday evening.