We went to the voting precinct this morning, and while we arrived at there at around half an hour of the opening of the polls, there were a lot of people crowded there already.
The first problem we encountered was finding our precinct, or the place where we will cast our ballots.
I discovered that due to the change in the voting system, from a manual to an automated counting one, the voter’s precincts were clustered. Around five (5) were grouped together in one cluster, which contained around a hundred plus voters.
Finding one’s name in the list was a bit hard. We opted to separate to try and find our names, for more people have more chances of finding our names. I went to the lists, my parents and sister tried the data bank service of a volunteer group.
I tried a few lists and on my second try, I ran into our names. I memorized our numbers and as I headed back, I met them. They returned empty handed. It seemed that their names was not in the computerized list. Nice.
Then we proceeded to the line to cast our votes. A volunteer for our cluster directed us towards the covered court in front of the precincts which was crammed with people. She said that we should fall in line there.
Holy hell. The line was long.
Fortunately, the people were from other clusters. So we searched for our cluster and went in line. The line was still relatively long. Two rows of chairs were placed. Around twenty chairs were in one row. Those seated there were in the line to vote. We were standing in a line after them, with around twenty or more people ahead of us.
The line moved very slowly.
After being in line for almost an hour, the line seemed to grind to a complete halt.
From the distance of the voting precinct, we could see people crowded in front of the door. We presumed people were cutting in line.
Sure enough we saw a couple of people which seemed to be standing with the people,minding their own business or talking with the one in the line. After a few minutes, we could see them now in the line. Then new comers would mistake the end of the line of people standing between the voting precinct and the rows of chairs and found themselves cutting in the line.
A lot of people complained.
The precinct beside us were handling the people more effectively. Every five set that moved forward from their group was a movement in ours. A set is composed of five people, for only ten can be in the room at once.
I was practically being apathetic at everything.
I looked at people that seemed to be cutting in the line, and did nothing but criticize them. I found out later that some of those that I saw were senior citizens which were given priority in the voting. My mistake.
When the line was practically not moving at all, a few adults stepped up and, not only complained to the volunteers who were keeping the order, they also helped by suggesting that we imitate what the other precinct was doing.
They removed any line in front of the door and instead gave numbers to those seated. And once there is a vacancy in the room, a set of five people were called in to present their number to the watcher.
It took a lot of time before the long line of people in front of the door was cleared. People kept a vigilant watch of those who attempted to cut in line or fell in line at the end of it. Watchers stationed themselves at the end of the line and directed new people at the end of the long, winding line.
Standing in line was gruesome. It was hot, there were a lot of people and since it took a lot of time, a lot felt hungry and thirsty.
I felt relieved when our line started moving. People even applauded.
After a few minutes, I was then seated. It took an average of ten minutes before we moved again. After thirty minutes, I found myself standing by the precinct door. Finally!
I looked at the Precinct Count Optical Scanner (PCOS) Machine and thought about how the lack of their number caused our suffering. If only there was enough of these machines so that we could vote conveniently.
The convenience of the automatic count cost the voters time. A watcher even mentioned that they did not mind the long night of manually counting the votes for the voting process was quicker.
Voting was easy. All we had to do was shade the circles for our favored candidates. However, since we were given permanent markers, the ink bled to the back of the paper. It would not have been a problem, but there were also options at the back.
I tried very carefully not to make the ink bleed to the back. There were still some, though… When I finished voting, I submitted my paper to the counting machine. In the first try, the paper was rejected. It went well in the second run as the words “Congratulations” on the little monitor.
Looking back on the ordeal, was waiting in line that long worth it? We spent three hours in that line, and when we left, there were still a lot of people. COMELEC even extended the voting time from 6:00PM to 7:00PM due to the slow movement and high turn-out of voters. it was a very uncomfortable experience, but if it will give us faster results and more peace of mind, then it’s not bad, I guess.
I just hope that in the next years to come, more machines will be added so it can accommodate more people, reducing the long lines.
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