PPCRV official warns of confusion over manual voting

A Catholic priest has warned of confusion as the country reverts to manual elections for the May 14 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.Msgr. Hernando Coronel, priest coordinator of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting in the Manila archdiocese, said if not addressed early, such problems could affect the conduct of the actual polls. My fear here is that this might confuse voters who have been used to the automated elections of just shading, Coronel said.In the manual process, voters need to write down the names of their chosen candidates. So that’s the difficulty to going back to manual, he said.Under the guidelines, voters aged 15 to 17 will be given the SK ballot, those aged 31 years and above will be given barangay ballot, while those aged 18 to 30 will have both ballots since they are eligible for both polls.Confusion over the ballots and misplaced votes were among the problems observed during the simulation of the polls over the weekend, prompting the Commission on Elections to intensify its voters’ education program.Coronel said those that will be serving the elections must also undergo effective training to avoid such mistakes. We need greater education and information drive for the upcoming elections because there will be many questions, he said.