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Booths allow OFWs to practice ballot shading


Practice makes perfect, so barely a month before the start of the overseas absentee voting (OAV), booths with “magic slates" have been set up along Hong Kong’s Chater Road for Filipino workers to take a shot at shading circles the right way. The ballot-sized “magic slates" installed in the same booths were set up by women’s groups Gabriela Women’s Party-HK and United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL) in preparation for the start of the automated OAV on April 10.

Practice ballots, which has the same size as the real thing, are expected to help overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong familiarize themselves with the process of automated elections.
“In our voter’s education drive, we found that overseas Filipino workers (OFW) are anxious on how the voting will go and how they can ensure that their ballots don’t get spoiled. Through this practice, we hope to familiarize them to the size of the ballot and how to properly shade their candidates of choice," said Gabriela chair Cynthia Abdon-Tellez. As a result, practice booths have thus been erected all over the Chinese territory’s Central District, as members of the groups encourage passing OFWs to try shading circles in the sample ballots. Tellez said it took the OFWs on average a couple of tries, especially for those with eyesight problems, to fully and properly shade the ovals. The practice slates, which are mounted on tables, also bear the groups’ endorsement of the senatorial bid of Reps. Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza, as well as Gabriela Women’s Party for party-list group. “This is part of our efforts to educate the OFW voters on this new process of elections. It again falls on the hands of us OFWs to equip ourselves so our right of suffrage will not suffer another setback," Tellez said. She likewise scored the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) for giving a “very late" briefing to voters in the region. Early March, COMELEC representatives met with OFW organizations in Hong Kong in a three-day dialogue and inspection to explain how the automated election system works. “How can the COMELEC expect to educate the more than 90,000 registered voters in HK who will be the first Filipinos to officially try the AES? For the tens of thousands of OFWs who will not be reached by the voter’s education efforts of OFW organizations, the chance that they will make a mistake and thus have their ballots invalidated is high. This close to the elections, OFWs are again facing disenfranchisement," she said. The practice slates will also be brought to other areas in Hong Kong in the days leading to the start of the OAV to reach out to more OFWs, Tellez added. There are 95,355 registered absentee voters in Hong Kong who will share in the 19 precinct count optical scan machines that will be used in the territory. These voters will be voting only for the national elective positions of President, Vice President, 12 senators and one Party-list Representative. Voting will be for 30 straight days, April 10-May 10 including weekends. Voters must bring their valid Philippine passport and identification card (PR card, S-Pass, E-Pass or Work Permit). Before proceeding to the Embassy, they must also check if their names are on the Certified List of Overseas Absentee Voters found in the Comelec website (www.comelec.gov.ph). - GMANews.TV
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