Bogo City inmates cast vote in jail

BOGO CITY, Cebu, Philippines—In an unprecedented event, inmates of the city jail here were able to exercise their right to suffrage in the facility on Monday for the nationwide midterm elections.

At least 76 out of 120 inmates were able to cast their votes inside Bogo City jail Monday; 44 others were not able to vote since they were not registered in Bogo.

The voting inside the city jail started at 8 a.m. Monday when the Board of Election Inspectors arrived, carrying with them the ballots, a precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machine and other election paraphernalia.

The inmates filled up the ballots that would then be read and counted by the PCOS machine installed in the elementary school in Barangay Gairan, about 500 meters away from the city jail.

Senior Jail Office 3 Danilo Rodriguez, deputy jail warden, said this was the first time that the inmates were able to vote in the jail facility.

Last 2010 polls, 46 inmates were brought by Bureau of Jail Management and Penology to Gairan Elementary School to cast their votes.

A resolution of the Commission on Election states that the BEIs will bring the ballots to the city jail itself if there are more than 50 registered inmates in the facility. If the number is less than 50, the inmates will be brought to the nearest voting precinct.