The moment I arrived at the voting precinct I was listed this morning, I was surprised of the long line of voters queuing for their turn to cast their ballots (or have it scanned). I thought automation was supposed to speed up the voting process but how come this scenario suddenly existed? The reason given by COMELEC was that they clustered several voting precincts into one because of the limited number of PCOS machines. No wonder, a lot of eager voters were crammed in a single precinct. But despite of that, I still joined the queue of excited and anxious voters and patiently waited for my turn.
After almost half an hour of waiting, one of the facilitators (or watchers I think) beckoned me to enter the voting booth. The BEI scanned for my name in her list of voters and when she found my name (together with the black and white picture of mine), she had me signed it, gave me the ballot together with the secrecy folder and the marker pen. I went to a corner, fished for the list of candidates that I'll be voting inside my jean's pocket, had a quick look at the ballot, and started to shade. When I'm excited, my hands get too sweaty that I can wet a paper I'm holding in a matter of few minutes. That's why I really tried to carefully not blot the ballot with my sweat. This is a national matter of utmost importance, I said to myself smiling.
While shading, the song by Sexbomb Dancers kept on playing inside my head. May bilog... May bilog... na hugis itlog... It took me I think 5 minutes or more shading the oblongs beside the names whom I think will help salvage what is left of this country. And then after that, the moment had finally come, the scanning of my ballot. I went straight to the PCOS machine and I inserted my ballot. While the machine was scanning it, my heart was pounding like wild horses running to and fro. Then suddenly the machine's screen flashed that my ballot was rejected. I think all the blood in my face during that time suddenly went down to my legs. I couldn't believe it. I wasted my precious vote. There must be something wrong with the way I shade, I thought.
I stood there transfixed and shocked in front of the machine for several seconds but it was almost like an eternity. Then the BEI, sensing my foolishness, went to my direction and asked me to insert my ballot again in the machine but this time bottom first. I did what she asked and after waiting again, this time with canyons exploding in my chest, the machine's screen finally congratulated me because my ballot was accepted. I wanted to shout out of sheer gladness but of course, I held back my emotion. I didn't want to create a scene. He he he...
While riding a tricycle going home, still thinking of the wonders of poll automation and pondering what will going to happen tonight when all the votes are in, my attention was suddenly drawn to the thing I kept on twirling between my fingers. And then I realized that I had brought with me the marker with prints on its side that says: SMARTMATIC Technology To Serve All.
After almost half an hour of waiting, one of the facilitators (or watchers I think) beckoned me to enter the voting booth. The BEI scanned for my name in her list of voters and when she found my name (together with the black and white picture of mine), she had me signed it, gave me the ballot together with the secrecy folder and the marker pen. I went to a corner, fished for the list of candidates that I'll be voting inside my jean's pocket, had a quick look at the ballot, and started to shade. When I'm excited, my hands get too sweaty that I can wet a paper I'm holding in a matter of few minutes. That's why I really tried to carefully not blot the ballot with my sweat. This is a national matter of utmost importance, I said to myself smiling.
While shading, the song by Sexbomb Dancers kept on playing inside my head. May bilog... May bilog... na hugis itlog... It took me I think 5 minutes or more shading the oblongs beside the names whom I think will help salvage what is left of this country. And then after that, the moment had finally come, the scanning of my ballot. I went straight to the PCOS machine and I inserted my ballot. While the machine was scanning it, my heart was pounding like wild horses running to and fro. Then suddenly the machine's screen flashed that my ballot was rejected. I think all the blood in my face during that time suddenly went down to my legs. I couldn't believe it. I wasted my precious vote. There must be something wrong with the way I shade, I thought.
I stood there transfixed and shocked in front of the machine for several seconds but it was almost like an eternity. Then the BEI, sensing my foolishness, went to my direction and asked me to insert my ballot again in the machine but this time bottom first. I did what she asked and after waiting again, this time with canyons exploding in my chest, the machine's screen finally congratulated me because my ballot was accepted. I wanted to shout out of sheer gladness but of course, I held back my emotion. I didn't want to create a scene. He he he...
While riding a tricycle going home, still thinking of the wonders of poll automation and pondering what will going to happen tonight when all the votes are in, my attention was suddenly drawn to the thing I kept on twirling between my fingers. And then I realized that I had brought with me the marker with prints on its side that says: SMARTMATIC Technology To Serve All.
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