A few things got me irritated. First was that the implementation was horrible. Nowhere in the countless youtube vids and infomercials was it indicated that you have to pick a number to get in line. Just go in, talk to the Board of Election Inspector (BEI) and get your ballot. Due to consolidating 5-7 precincts into one cluster, one cluster now had more than 5 times the number of voters to manage, resulting in long lines, if any. To avoid people cutting in, they implemented a number system. Second was that not the entire system was automated. You still have to check your name outside the precinct, worse the BEI will go over the same list again once you're inside before you get your ballot, as pointed out by many onlookers outside. In a fully automated scenario, a machine would validate your identity, NOT a human (same species or not, for all I know they must've thawed Neanderthals from the polar ice caps since no human in his right mind would be willing to suffer the godforsaken environment). Yes COMELEC is right in assuming that voting will be fast, but it is in GETTING to vote that was the unknown part of the equation that they should have worried about. Third there was no special lane for senior citizens. Of course they would take longer to vote, but that is NO excuse, if they have a separate line then the rest would still be able to vote. It reminds me of the various lanes in the expressway, but that is another story but the analogy was there to prove a point. What happened is that they have old guys holding up the line. Fourth, only a few could get in at a time. In my case before someone made a scene, only 1-2 got in the room at a time. Finally they let 10 or so come in. If it was me, knowing a classroom can hold about 50 students, they should let in about 50 at first. Not all will finish at the same time and they let a number of people to come in (which should be at the same rate as people going out). Fifth, people still cut in, and probably some of the worst offenders are those running in public office. Although it was a welcome respite to see former actor Jestoni Alarcon who was running for councilor get in the school compound and greet star struck people, it was still insulting to see him being ushered to the precinct ahead of those who waited for hours. There is no reason why he should put himself above everyone else. Sixth, why is still there a need for thumbprints before getting your ballot? The ballot is sensitive to markings and dirty fingers have a tendency to smudge it like I did. Fortunately the area I smudged was a blank area. Seventh, the PCOS machine wasn't as rugged as it was claimed to be. Crashes, paper jams, etc. For 11 billion, it better be good. We are writing a POS that just costs peanuts when compared to the cost of building that and it has a few quirks here and there. If they can't do it right at that price at least it gives us an excuse (snickers). All in all the election wasn't entirely automated. Technically it was a half-baked solution which has a lot of rough edges.
In my disgust I immediately left afterwards, took a shower and went back to my planetary fortress to patch my Starcraft2 game and burn some zerglings or nuke some zealots (in no particular order). But since the patch isn't getting anywhere due to the flaky internet connection I decided getting some news is in order. Looking at the abs-cbn news site, I found that it wasn't just an isolated case. Many precincts also had those problems. Then I found out that in Tarlac, Noynoy waited just like everyone else to get a chance to vote.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/05/10/10/pcos-glitch-delays-noynoys-voting
Asked why he did not cut the line like other presidential and vice-presidential candidates, Aquino said: "Ang gustong mamuno, kailangan maging mahusay na tagasunod. Hindi puwede na naglilingkod ka sa taong bayan na sila ang mahihirapan, kayo hindi. Dapat ho damay-damay ito."
If I knew then what I knew now, he would have been the one that I would've voted. What he just did may be small and unnecessary to some but it is quite touching to other people like me. It shows that somehow the Aquino's legacy might have rubbed off on him. Maybe not grey matter (i.e., intellect), or experience (you learn that on your own), but perhaps the heart (i.e., his parents devotion to the Filipino people). It's like the story of the King of Thailand that I have read once. When he went trekking, he also had some reporters come along and while taking a break after a long hike they were famished and were about to eat anything they could get their hands on. When they saw a plate of rice with fried egg they proceeded to take it but before they were able to one of the guards stopped them and said it was the King's lunch. Some almost wept to know that even their king did not put himself above anyone. Maybe that explains why the Thai people love their king. And that might explain why people show so much support for Cory. Noynoy may have been under their shadow for too long, but given the chance, he might be able to endear himself to the people.
Getting back to the automated election, they really should think things through. To the commission, the moral story should be the famous line by Benny Hill: "Never assume, for if you do, you make an ASS out of U and ME." They should learn that before making assumptions next time. But then next time a new set of officials would probably be in place and making the same stupid assumptions all over again. Also I'd hate to be the BEI that would be part of the random manual count, imagine how long would counting around one thousand ballots manually would take. In the old system one precinct has to count around 100-250 ballots manually, and that takes a long time. What were they thinking?
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