Barangay and SK election: Selected voters from Pitogo, Pari-an to cast ballots in malls

Ballot boxes are being prepared for next year’s national elections.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — At least two barangays in Cebu have been chosen as part of the Commission on Election – Central Visayas’ (Comelec-7) pilot program to conduct actual voting inside malls during the Barangay and SK election.

Lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano, director of Comelec-7, confirmed on Wednesday, October 18, that the voting centers for the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE), for selected precincts in Barangays Pitogo in Consolacion and Pari-an in Cebu City, will be in malls.

READ: Mall voting simulation set for August 19 – Comelec official

BSKE: Designated malls for voting centers

These will be at SM Consolacion and Robinsons Galleria in the North Reclamation Area (NRA), Cebu City.

There will be five clustered precincts from Pitogo and five clustered precincts from Pari-an that will have the mall voting, Castillano said.

“Only five precincts from each barangay considering the space constraint,” he added.

READ: Comelec-7 to launch mall voting on Brgy and SK Elections 2023

Two simulations

Comelec-7 has also conducted two simulations of the ‘mall voting’ during the first week of October to assess the feasibility of having malls as voting centers for the Barangay and SK election.

According to Castillano, the Comelec decided to implement a pilot test on having malls as part of their goals to enhance voting experience.

The Comelec-7 official cited the high turnout they observed when voter registrations were conducted in malls as the basis behind the decision.

The Barangay and SK polls will be held this October 30.

ALSO READ: Guarding the vote: Over 180,000 cops to be deployed for BSKE