INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
LEGAZPI CITY — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) recorded no major problems in the early voting in Naga City , Camarines Sur, for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections 2023.
Lawyer Maico Julia Jr., election officer of Naga City, said most of the concerns were only about difficulty in finding their polling precincts and missing names because of the deactivation of registration.
He said all the 369 precincts in 27 villages opened at exactly 5 a.m. and no incidents of violence were recorded.
“This (time) is really favorable for the voters because they can vote early, and the temperature is still fair and convenient, unlike if they join the majority of the voters later on,” he said in a phone interview on Monday.
He said they had yet to consolidate the actual numbers of the early voters.
The Comelec chose Naga City, Muntinlupa City, and the National Capital Region as pilot areas for the Early Voting Hours Project to allow senior citizens, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and pregnant women to vote between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m.
Lawyer Paul John Barrosa, head of the Persons With Disability Affairs Office in Naga City, said more than 2,000 voters availed themselves of the early voting, who comprise almost half of the registered PWD voters.
“I think the turnout is good, and hopefully this will be implemented nationwide in the 2025 elections. This is important because basically this will give convenience to the seniors, PWDs, and pregnant women because we’ve been wanting to have a separate precinct for the marginalized sectors to avoid the crowd,” he said in a separate phone interview.
He said they were hoping that the Comelec would consider at least an hour extension of the early voting to accommodate more voters. INQ
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