By Ferdinand Patinio/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — A total of 18,072 national and locals positions are at stake in the May 13 mid-term polls.
Based on Commission on Elections (Comelec) data, of the said number, voters will be electing 12 senators and 61 seats for party-list organizations.
For local polls, registered voters in the country will be selecting 245 members of the House of Representatives, 81 governors and vice governors and 780 members of Provincial Board.
Filipinos will also be voting for 145 city mayors and vice mayors; 1,628 city councilors; and 1,489 municipal mayors and vice mayors; and 11,916 municipal councilors.
Over 61 million voters
Comelec figures also showed that the country now has a total of 61,843,771 registered voters while there are a total of 1,822,173 voters overseas.
The country’s top three regions with the most number of registered voters are: Region IV-A (Calabarzon) with 8,674,351; National Capital Region (NCR) with 7,074,603; and Region III (Central Luzon), 6,829,611.
Of the country’s 17 regions, CAR (Cordillera Administrative Region) has registered with the least number of voters at 1,013,418.
As for overseas voting, the Middle East and Africa regions have the highest number of Filipino voters with 887,744; followed by Asia Pacific with 401,390; North and Latin America, 345,415; and Europe, 187,624.
Filipinos abroad started voting one month ahead of the elections in the Philippines, which was last April 13 and will end on May 13, 6 p.m. (Philippine Time).
85,768 VCMs
Just like in the May 2016 polls, the May 2019 elections will be automated as voters in the country will be using vote counting machines (VCMs).
The Comelec is utilizing a total of 85,768 VCMs in the same number of clustered precincts nationwide. There a some 7,000 VCMs as contingency.
As part of the automated polls, the poll body is pilot-testing the Voter Registration Verification Machine (VRVM) in some areas for this year’s polls.
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 (EDCVL), before a voter is given the ballot on Election Day.
The pilot areas are: Manila, Quezon City, Cavite, Pangasinan, Cebu, Negros Occidental, Davao del Sur and Zamboanga del Sur.
Polling centers would still have copies of EDCVL as reference in case the name of the voter did not show up on the machine.
The 2019 polls is the fourth time that the country will be holding an automated polls nationwide. The first one was in the 2010 presidential polls, the 2013 midterm elections was the second and the last was during the 2016 presidential polls.
Election Boards
An approximate 255,000 teachers or Election Boards (EB) will be serving on Election Day.
Their main functions are to man voting precincts and assist voters in the elections.
The serving of teachers as EBs in the elections is voluntarily.
The Comelec en banc sitting at the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) is set to convene in the afternoon of May 13.
The seven-man panel is looking to proclaim the 12 winning senators within two weeks after the polls.
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