MANILA, Philippines — Teachers part of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) are not included in the list of approved personnel taking advantage of local absentee voting (LAV).
This was the clarification raised by Commission on Elections spokesperson James Jimenez on Monday, the first day of LAV.
“No they’re not. Magkakaroon ng tinatawag nating special boards of election inspectors who will be drawn from the organizations that are conducting the voting,” Jimenez told reporters when asked for clarification.
According to Jimenez, only members of the military, police, government officials, and media would participate in LAV.
LAV is intended for the said personnel to vote for the midterm elections in anticipation that they would be on duty on election day.
READ: Local absentee voting for May 13 polls starts
Nevertheless, Jimenez said that teachers serving on election day may still vote depending on the situation.
“They can vote where they are assigned if they are registered there,” Jimenez said.
“If they are not registered there, I think the accommodation given to them is that if voting in their assigned precinct is light, they can take 30 minutes to go and vote, as long as hindi mababakante yung board of election inspectors na iiwan nila, kung saan sila naka assign,” he added
The absentee voting for selected personnel started on April 29, Monday, and will end on May 1.
Voting will be from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. /je