A poll automation machine glitch momentralily stalled voting in one precinct in Hong Kong as the overseas absentee balloting entered its second day Sunday, an official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said. “The PCOS (precinct count optical scan) machine [malfunctioned] because of moisture, but it was fixed promptly. It took an hour,” Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said in a phone interview. The machine reportedly jammed and rejected ballots. But Larrazabal said voting in Hong Kong continued smoothly, although the turnout was low. “It's not as many as we expected, but it's just the first weekend. Maybe in the coming days, more people will cast their votes,” he said. About 1,000 of the 96,000 Filipino voters went to the Kennedy Town Center in Hong Kong to vote Saturday, officials at the the Department of Foreign Affairs said. The voting turnout in Singapore is lower - only 200 of the 31,851 registered voters, officials at the Philippine embassy, where voting was held, said. Aside from the automated polls in Singapore and Hong Kong, manual absentee voting is also being done in the country's 93 embassies and consulates across the world. Absentee voting in more than 90 countries kicked off Saturday with a low turnout. In Jeddah, officials at the Philippine Consulate General said 180 cast their votes Saturday. Consul General Ezzedin Tago said they were pleased with the smooth flow of voting Saturday. Sunday, the consulate has opened its voting time from 8 A.M. up to 6 P.M. to accommodate those who would want to vote after their working time. “At least 180 Filipino workers voted Saturday,” Tago said, adding that he expected more to vote Thursday and Friday, when workers take their day off. Consulate officials said their are 36,053 registered voters in the Western Region which falls under the jurisdiction of the Consulate General in Jeddah. Saturday, some workers in Jeddah did not know that the voting had started. David Daileg went to the Philippine Consulate before 8 A.M. Saturday to renew his passport. He ended up voting and was the first to do so in Jeddah. “I was supposed to renew my passport but I voted instead so I could help change the system in the Philippines,” said Daileg, who hails from Tarlac and has been working in Jeddah as a family driver for 15 years. Rommel Calingasan and Eddie Capili also went to the consulate to renew their passports and were surprised to find out that voting has started. They said they thought that overseas absentee voting was to be held only in Hong Kong and Singapore. Apart from some who were unaware of the exercise, others had a hard time looking for their names in the list of registered voters. Dario Vinas failed to find his name on the list at Precinct 10, but was able to vote after finding his name under Precinct 9. Among the first to vote at the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah Saturday were consulate staff. Poll watchers of presidential candidate Eddie Villanueva were present. The overseas absentee voting will end on May 10, the day the voters back home will elect the national and local offiicials, the Comelec said.
