Elderly, PWDs, pregnant voters given priority

SINAIT, Ilocos Sur — Ignacio Agsalog, 92, a former village chairman of Barangay Curtin here, was among the early voters at the Curtin Elementary School.

Unlike the other 250 voters who left their precinct immediately after casting their votes, Agsalog was seated near an election volunteer at the entrance of the polling place.

Edmar Ines of Curtin village described the old man as a firm and strong leader during his time as a village official. The people then were well-disciplined and there was no issue of vote buying.

Though he is weak and fragile, Agsalog said he wanted to make sure his vote is counted.

Like in other precincts in Ilocos, senior citizens, persons with disabilities (PWDs) and pregnant women were given priority lanes so they could vote easily.

However, due to a malfunctioning vote counting machine (VCM) in precinct nos. 21A, 22A, 24A, and 25A in Barangay Caunayan, Batac City, voters here had to wait for more than two hours as the replacement VCM took much longer to arrive.

A defective SD card was also reported in a Batac precinct and the election board had to wait for a replacement.

Paper jam was also a common problem encountered by Ilocos voters.

Shamae Cristobal, a technical support staff assigned at the Badio Elementary School in Pinili town, explained that paper jam may be due to overheating hence, they need to place an electric fan beside it, or wait for the machine to cool down before inserting another ballot.