With less than two hours left on election day, calls for extension resound amid delays

MANILA, Philippines — With less than two hours to go on election day and thousands still in line at polling precincts around the country, candidates, civil society organizations, and poll watchdogs urged the Commission on Elections to implement an extension of the polling past the original 7 p.m. time.

For most of the day, broken voter machines and technical difficulties forced voters to wait hours under the sun just to practice their right to suffrage. Hundreds of accounts on social media spoke of long lines and anomalies involving the Comelec's vote-counting machines. 

The Commission on Elections has admitted that it recorded almost 1,900 voting machines marred with "common issues" around the country including paper jams, rejected ballots and printing complications. Voters on the ground also reported long delays in the repair of these machines. 

COMELEC cannot ignore the widespread complaints of malfunctioning VCMs and super delayed voting procedures, possibly resulting in widespread disenfranchisement of voters. The least it can do now is extend the voting hours to allow our people to exercise their right to vote.

— Neri Colmenares (@ColmenaresPH) May 9, 2022

To recall, the Comelec awarded a contract to transport election supplies to F2 Logistics, which is linked to Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy who is a major campaign contributor of President Rodrigo Duterte.

In a statement, vice presidential candidate Francis Pangilinan urged the Comelec to extend the deadline by just two hours, particularly in the areas affected by these irregularities.

"This delay is not the fault of the voters - most of the time is spent in the queue. Let us give the opportunity to all our countrymen who want to participate to vote today," he said in Filipino. 

Based on 464 verified reports nationwide, @KontraDaya and @VoteReportPH said that the first seven hours of today’s election have been marred with disinformation, red-tagging, malfunctioning vote counting machines, and disenfranchisement, to name a few. pic.twitter.com/kNfN2wDdlT

— Kontra Daya (@kontradaya) May 9, 2022

Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal echoed these calls, saying voters were being "disenfranchised because of the failure of the Comelec to see to it that these machines would really function properly on election day."

"If there are really many voters now who are within the premises of their polling precincts, well perhaps the Comelec would consider that because there is a very justifiable reason for the Comelec to extend the voting hours," he said in Filipino.

"The culprit is the Comelec's preparation of the said vote-counting machines."

BREAKING: Residents of Maginhawa, Quezon City are now protesting the local COMELEC’s decision to cut the processing of votes after 7pm—even with most of the precinct’s vote-counting machines having suddenly become non-functional. #BaklaBantayBoto2023 pic.twitter.com/N8WGWGXaT9

— Bakla Bantay Boto (@baklabantayboto) May 9, 2022

Beyond just disenfranchisement, poll watchers and volunteers from three precincts that Philstar.com visited cast fear that the glitches and malfunctions left the door wide open for election fraud. 

Meanwhile, Comelec personnel manning the election sites admitted that there was no assurance from higher-ups that the broken machines were going to be repaired or replaced within the day. 

In those cases, voters are left with a choice: leave their ballots to the Comelec personnel to insert for them later on — possibly via manual counting if the machines aren't repaired on time — or wait for the repairs so they can insert their votes personally. 

Groups like Kontra Daya and VoteReportPH issued the same calls on social media as the former pointed out that "there is a high probability that many voters would be unable to vote by 7:00 p.m."

"Kontra Daya has received reports of voters going home after being unable to wait due to long lines or the arrival of replacement machines. This is a clear case of voter disenfranchisement," the group said. 

"Extending voting hours will enable more voters to cast their votes and allow time for COMELEC to resolve issues with voting."

— with reports from Xave Gregorio