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Voting machine mishaps frustrate Filipinos in election
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Voting machine mishaps frustrate Filipinos in election
Manny Mogato
TARLAC CITY, Philippines
Mon May 10, 2010 3:08am EDT
Related News
Philippine poll body says election failure in 4 areas
3:08am EDT
TARLAC CITY, Philippines (Reuters) - Problems with some ballot machines kept voters waiting in long queues on Monday as Filipinos cast their votes for a successor to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
World
Frontrunner Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino was among voters forced to wait on a hot and humid day at several ballot stations across the poor Southeast Asian nation as voting machines jammed and malfunctioned. Some people gave up after waiting for hours, local media reported. The use of a new and untested automated voting system is a major risk for the election. Concerns about the system intensified following the recall of more than 76,000 memory chips after a fault was discovered last week.
Either a failure of the machines or a failure of people to understand the new voting system could lead to a disputed result, which could in turn lead to political instability and unrest.
"The pace of voting is a bit slow. It takes almost two hours, I think only about 100 have voted in my precinct. I hope the pace picks up and the machine is fixed so I can vote," Aquino, who has a lead of about 20 points in opinion polls, told reporters.
"We hope it's an isolated incident."
Violence in some remote and rural areas, including a number of deaths, and allegations of vote buying and paying other people not to vote were other reminders of problems that have blighted previous elections.
At least seven people were killed in three incidents since Saturday on the troubled southern island of Mindanao.
Opinion polls showed Aquino as a clear leader in the race for the presidency ahead of former president Joseph Estrada and Senator Manny Villar, with Gilberto Teodoro, candidate of the outgoing administration, a distant fourth.
More than 50 million people are eligible to vote for nearly 18,000 local and national positions, and authorities expect a voter turnout of more than 80 percent.
"It's super disorganized. There's no order. Been queuing for more than an hour and the line is at least 50 meters long. It's the worst election by far," said 42-year-old Armand Juele, who had expected voting to take a few minutes as in previous ballots.
DISORGANIZED
The election commission Comelec had said there were around 6,000 back-up machines for the more than 76,000 machines around the nation. Yet there was no replacement machine at the ballot station where Aquino waited to cast his vote.
Comelec said if a machine malfunctioned people could still complete their voting paper, and it would be stored and then scanned later by the schoolteachers who staff election booths.
"What people should understand is that voting should not stop. People can still vote, and the ballots will just be put in the ballot box and fed after the end of the voting period," Comelec commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal told ANC television.
"There will be lines, but what is important is you will be able to vote."
Fighting corruption and reducing poverty have been the key themes of the campaigns, but candidates have not been specific on details, including how to tackle the large budget deficit.
Among the challenges for the new president will be trying to reinvigorate an economy that has fallen behind its Southeast Asian peers, both in terms of growth potential and as an investment destination.
"I prayed for a peaceful election, so our country can move forward. People are sick and tired of the cheating and fraud in the past elections," 57-year-old voter Danilo Arriola told Reuters Television.
(Additional reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr. and Rosemarie Francisco; Writing by John Mair; Editing by Megan Goldin)
World
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