Albay all set for mock elections

LEGAZPI CITY, Albay, Philippines — Four polling precincts in Albay province are ready to join the conduct of mock elections today in Luzon, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in the Bicol region said.

Lawyer Maria Aurea Bo-Bunao, Comelec Albay director, said the province will join Pasay City in Metro Manila and Isabela province as the designated areas for the national mock elections in Luzon.

Bunao, in a phone interview, said 400 registered voters from the villages of Ilawod West and Tamaoyan in Legazpi City, and the villages of Banawan and Caratagan in Pio Duran town were chosen to join the mock elections.

She said the designated polling centers were Albay Central Elementary School and Tamouan Elementary School in this city, and Pio Duran West Central School and Pio Duran East Central School in Pio Duran.

From 6 a.m. to 7 a.m, vote counting machines (VCMs) will be set up and installed at the polling center. Voting will start at 7 a.m. and end at noon.

As soon as the precincts are closed, canvassing and transmission will start between noon and 1 p.m., she said.

Bunao said the exercise would test the security, accuracy, systems, and capability of the VCM transmission devices.

The exercise, she said, would also test health and safety protocols drawn up for next year’s national and local polls.

—MAR S. ARGUELLES