By Ferdinand Patinio/PNA
MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Friday it will take voters an additional five minutes to cast their votes due to the introduction of the Voter Registration Verification System (VRVS) in the May 13 polls.
“We expect that the use of VRVS will not exceed five minutes. This is aside from the expected time for an ordinary voter of about 10 minutes,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez told reporters.
The poll body official, however, assured that they are ready with the slight delays caused by the implementation of the VRVS.
“This is the reason why our voting time was made 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. We hope that will accommodate the additional delay,” Jimenez explained.
He said delays are expected only during the pilot testing of the VRVS in selected polling centers in the forthcoming polls, as they expect the use of the system to improve future elections.
“When we go into the full implementation in the future, that is the only process that will be used. At that point, it will be even quicker since we have gone digital,” the Comelec official added.
The VRVS will automate the system of verifying voter registration at the polling precinct, instead of using the printed copies of Election Day Computerized Voters List, before a voter is given the ballot.
Some 35,000 VRVS units were acquired by the poll body to be pilot tested in all polling precincts in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Manila, and Quezon City during the May 2019 elections.
Selected polling areas in Pangasinan, Cavite, Cebu, Negros Occidental, Zamboanga del Sur, and Davao del Sur will also be using the new system.
