Noynoy Aquino widens lead in official Comelec tally

(Updated 9:50 a.m.) With more than two-thirds of the election returns in, Liberal Party standard-bearer Benigno Simeon “Noynoy" Aquino III and Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino vice-presidential bet Jejomar Binay maintained their leads against their rivals, based on a partial and unofficial consolidation of election returns as of early Tuesday. The unofficial tally from 76,347 precincts nationwide by GMA News as of 8 a.m. Tuesday, showed Noynoy garnering 12,236,697 votes. Binay, meanwhile, accumulated 12,028,712 votes. Comelec official count As of 6:15 a.m. Tuesday, Aquino also leads in the Commission on Elections (Comelec) partial official count, based on 78.55 percent of the results or 30,431,735 votes, which showed him with 12,233,002 (40.19 percent) over former President Joseph Estrada (Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino) with 7,749,597 (25.46 percent) votes, Sen. Manny Villar Jr. (Nacionalista Party) with 4,329,215 (14.22 percent), and Gilberto Teodoro Jr. (Lakas-Kampi-CMD) with 3,243,688 (10.65 percent) votes. Next came Eddie Villanueva (Bangon Pilipinas) and Sen. Richard Gordon (Bagumbayan) with 916,543 (3.01 percent) and 431,954 (1.41 percent). Independent candidates Senator Jamby Madrigal and Nicanor Perlas, as well as Ang Kapatiran Party presidential bet JC delos Reyes still got less than one percent of the total votes, according to Comelec data. Binay, Mar in tight race Also in the Comelec partial official count for the vice presidential race, Binay, Estrada's running mate, got 12, 25,429 (39.59 percent). Liberal Party's Sen. Mar Roxas came in a close second with 11,213,563 (36.84 percent) according to the Comelec. Villar's running-mate Sen. Loren Legarda came in third with 3,259,963 (10.71 percent), followed by Bayani Fernando with 847,100 (2.78 percent), and Lakas-Kampi-CMD's Eduardo Manzano with 593,653 (1.95 percent). Comelec data also showed the three remaining vice-presidential hopefuls — Bangon Pilipinas’ Perfecto Yasay, Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL)’s Jay Sonza and Ang Kapatiran Party’s Dominador Chipeco Jr. — with less than one percent of the votes. Voting in the country's first automated elections officially closed at 7 p.m. Monday in 76,347 clustered precincts nationwide, although the voting centers were allowed to accommodate voters that were already inside the polling place by 7 a.m. The tally of election results being conducted by GMA may be viewed here while the tally by the Comelec may be viewed here. 75 percent turnout Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said at a press briefing early Tuesday the voter turnout remained at 75 percent - or 30,431,735 out of 50,723,734 votes expected to be cast during Monday's polls. Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento had predicted the turnout to be at 85 percent, although poll body chairman Jose Melo said that 50 percent will probably do. Voting in the country's first automated elections officially closed at 7 p.m. Monday in 76,347 clustered precincts nationwide, although the voting centers were allowed to accommodate voters that were already inside the polling place by 7 p.m. After voting closes, the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines are expected to transmit the results to the city and municipal board of canvassers, the Comelec central server, and other accredited servers. The rates of transmission of election returns per region are as follows: The ARMM (42.55 percent), CAR (74.35 percent), CARAGA (77.37 percent), NCR (92.38 percent), Region I (78.26 percent), Region II (85.16 percent), Region III (83.37 percent), Region IVA (74.28 percent), Region IVB (75.94 percent), Region V (74.29 percent), Region VI (76.74 percent), Region VII (69.4 percent), Region VIII (68.39 percent), Region IX (74.41 percent), Region X (75.47 percent), Region XI (76.17 percent), and Region XII (79.76 percent). "Tiis lang nang konti (Bear with us) in a short while this will all be done," Larrazabal said, adding that the results from the automated overseas absentee voting has already been transmitted 100 percent, he . Proclamation The National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) is expected to consolidate the votes and declare the winners both for the senatorial and the party-list races. The NBOC is composed of the poll body commission, which is made up of Melo and the six poll body commissioners. They officially convened on Monday afternoon. The NBOC will base its declaration on the certificates of canvass (COC) to be sent by the Provincial Board of Convassers (PBC). The PBC will in turn receive COCs from the city and municipal board of canvassers. But Melo said that they will still have to wait for the COCs to be transmitted before the NBOC can resume session. On the other hand, Congress, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers, will serve as the canvassing board for the position of president and vice president. The poll body is expected to conduct another briefing later in the day to update the tally and announce the results of the random manual audit of precincts nationwide. The tally of election results being conducted by GMA may be viewed here while the tally by the Comelec may be viewed here. —LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV