Safety and convenience in voting

The death of two women voters and fainting of 11 people due to the summer heat in Cebu City and some parts of Cebu province only emphasized the urgency not only of including commercial malls as polling precincts but other places where voters can cast their ballots in comfort and convenience.

One of the 11 people who fainted, 31-year-old Analyn Conejos of Tuburan town, was pregnant and suffered from hypertension when she was rushed out of the polling precinct. Thankfully she survived, but we understand that there’s a special lane for the elderly, pregnant and persons with disabilities (PWDs).

Even with the special lanes, there will be long lines of voters waiting to cast their ballots, and they will do so in public and private schools that admittedly have seen better days. Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Andres Bautista’s campaign to move some of the polling precincts to the malls got blocked after Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon contended that the transfer of voting facilities and materials violated the 45-day period requirement set by the Omnibus Election Code.

Rather than contest it before the Supreme Court which earlier ruled to require Comelec to issue voting receipts, the Comelec scrapped the plan to the great inconvenience of the Filipino voters who had to endure the heat with long lines and slow casting and processing of votes.

Voters were long advised to bring water and wear comfortable clothing to beat the heat, but with the actual heat index hovering above 37 degrees Celsius, someone is bound to faint or, worse, suffer from heat stroke.

There were ambulances stationed nearby but as shown by last Monday’s election day, the two victims identified as Terry Paneza of Cebu City and Teodorica Castillo of San Remigio town died on the spot.

Local officials can blame the heat all they want, but would they, like the judge who threatened to file charges of contempt against Supertyphoon Yolanda for shutting down the courts, hail the El Niño and the sun to court? Good luck to them.

Probably the weather would be better in the next elections, but we cannot take that chance. The 2013 elections saw the trial and actual use of malls for elderly and PWD voters, and the findings were unequivocally the same — the voters found it comfortable and they actually enjoyed the experience.

But the designation of other precincts need not be confined to malls which continue to be a haven and a venue for leisure and enjoyment among Filipinos.

We understand there is the separation of Church and State, but can the Catholic Church, which had already done volunteer work in monitoring the elections, expand its role to include lending its churches as polling precinct venues?

There are other venue considerations, but the Comelec and other stakeholders should seriously consider and pursue these plans in order to ensure not only comfort and convenience but also the health and safety of the Filipino voters and their ballots.