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Disenfranchisement, vote-buying and intimidation mar Philippines election

MANILA — Whether it was a family from the posh Corinthian Gardens or urban poor residents of Tondo, Manila, the complaints were the same according to election watchdog Kontra Daya.

Many voters were disenfranchised on election day, the watchdog group said based on reports it received from the field. One voter from Corinthian Gardens complained that her name was ?deactivated? from the voter?s list because she allegedly did not vote in the previous two elections, a claim she disputed. A militant urban poor leader from Tondo was made to wait for four hours to vote after her name was found in a different polling precinct far from her barangay. Another family was instructed by the Comelec to go to a new polling precinct only to find out that the school was empty.
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In Agdao, Shortage of Ballots Tests Patience of Voters


Voting Break. The voting at the Ubalde Elementary School in Agdao had to be stop around noontime because of the lack of ballots. (davaotoday.com photo by Medel Hernani)

By Grace S. Uddin
Davao Today

AGDAO, Davao City — Despite the infant in her arms, Marivic Nistal, 29, of barangay Ubalde in Agdao, did not mind walking the distance from her house under the heat of the sun just to be able to vote.

But luck was not on her side today, as well as the other voters who lined up earlier, because the precinct ran out ballots.

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In SIR Matina, Families Are Torn Apart, the Dead Appeared on Voters? List

By Germelina A. Lacorte
Davao Today

DAVAO CITY — Families were torn apart, the dead appeared on the voters’ list, while some people stormed out after they lost their patience in today’s polls.

There may be no reported case of violence in Davao City but not a few people went home angry and exasperated after failing to find their names on the voters’ list.
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In Marilog, Voters Couldn?t Find Names, Precincts Don?t Have Enough Lighting for Counting Tonight

By Jeti Ayop-Ohaylan
Davao Today

MARILOG, Davao City — Several voters at the Marilog Central Elementary School complained today that they could not find their names on the voters? list. Reynaldo Bacalso, 49, said a number of the voters failed to vote as a result.

Many of the voters came from the sitios of Quimasog, Santo Nino and Lomondao, all of this barangay. They complained, Bacalso said, that their votes had gone to waste.
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