A voter checks her voting receipt after feeding the ballot to the Vote-Counting Machine (VCM) during a demonstration in Pacific Mall, Mandaue City. Comelec said the mall voting this October will not be automated but will be done manually. | CDN Digital file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Mall voting simulation preparation is currently ongoing in Cebu, a top Commission on Elections (Comelec) official said.
The activity is in line with the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections this October 2023.
Comelec Cebu Provincial Spokesperson, Omar Sharif Mamalinta told CDN Digital that the mall voting simulation will be done this August 19, 2023, at Robinsons Galleria Cebu.
Mamalinta stated that they had a consultation with Barangay officials and the voting populace of Barangay Parian if they are amenable to the mall voting.
They also conducted a series of online meetings with the various departments of Comelec in Manila.
“In the webinar, it was discussed in detail the date, time, and venues of mall voting simulation and other relevant data [like] the number of participants, the role of election officers, materials and supplies needed, manner of voting, physical set up of voting, manner of counting of votes, preparation of election returns, retrieval of ballot boxes and other election documents and reportorial requirements,” said Mamalinta.
“We also had a meeting with the mall manager as to the conduct of said activity,” he added.
Additionally, the department also conducted the very first hybrid meeting for the Barangay and SK election mall voting that was held on May 31, at the Comelec Session Hall.
The hybrid meeting was attended by the Election and Barangay Affairs Department (EBAD) heads who presented the salient features of the approved operational plan for the simulation.
Among those are the mall voting project structure, focal persons, and tasking of the Credit Information Corporation (CIC), PMO, and all working committees/departments, offices of the commissions, deputized agencies, and citizen’s arm, Mamalinta stated.
In accordance with the discussion, 50 voters per precinct from Barangay Parian, Cebu City are participating in the activity which will be categorized by age.
Twenty voters shall be between the ages of 15 years old to 17 years old, another set of 15 voters shall be between the ages of 18 to 30 years old, while another set of 15 voters shall be between the ages of 30 years old and above.
“In the mall voting simulation, it was agreed that only 1 clustered precinct is allowed for uniformity purposes in all malls used as voting centers come August 19, for simulation purposes only,” said Mamalinta.
The mall voting simulation will be conducted nationwide in participating malls. |rcg
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