Teachers, watchers arrive early for mock polls in RP

Mock elections for the country’s first nationwide automated polls in May kicked off on an excited note Saturday as teachers and principals arrived early for the exercise. At the New Era Elementary School in Quezon City, school principal Myrna Romarate held high hopes for the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines that will take the tallying of votes from teachers. “High-tech na tayo, it’s about time, we really have to be. Minus (sa teacher ang) pag-tally ng votes. Ang pila I hope mababawasan (We’re going high-tech and it’s about time. We really have to go high-tech. This will also ease the burden on teachers who are tallying the votes. And I hope voters’ queues will be shorter now that the process is shorter)," Romarate said in an interview on dzBB radio. Radio dzBB’s Sam Nielsen reported that Romarate arrived early for the elections, supervising the arrangements as early as 6:20 a.m. Representatives of poll watchdog groups arrived early as well, even as the PCOS machines were installed in the school grounds early Saturday. Mock polls were scheduled from 8 to 10 a.m., where the Commission on Elections was to look for possible glitches in the process. “In past elections, the teachers had hard time tallying the votes. Now it’s the machine’s job," Romarate said. Similar arrangements were made at the Maharlika Elementary School in Taguig City with teachers arriving early for the exercise, according to a report by dzBB’s Lito Laparan. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) conducted mock polls in nine areas in Metro Manila to test the PCOS machines and procedures it has adopted for the first-ever automated polls in the country. Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said the mock polls will simulate the whole election process, from the voting, counting, canvassing and the transmission of the results using the PCOS machines. Larrazabal said they hope to fix glitches in the system in time for the May 10 polls. Last week, the Comelec staged mock polls in some areas in Metro Manila, including in Taguig City, Pasig City and Pateros town in Metro Manila. Other areas in Metro Manila where the mock polls were scheduled included Gen. Ricardo Papa Memorial High School in Taguig City. In Luzon, mock polls were to be held at the Pines City National High School and the Community Youth Center in Baguio City; in the Visayas, they were to be conducted at the Bulacao Community School and Mabini Elementary School in Cebu City. In Mindanao, they were to be done at the Alejandra Navarro Elementary School and Generoso Elementary School in Davao City. A central server stationed at the Comelec main office in Intramuros in Manila has been set up to receive the transmitted “results" of the “polls." - LBG, GMANews.TV