Low voter turnout seen in Cavite special polls

MANILA, Philippines —  The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is expecting a low voter turnout in the coming special congressional elections in Cavite.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the voter turnout for the special polls in the seventh district of Cavite is not expected to exceed 70 percent.

“Sana mataas, pero pag ganitong special elections, base sa karanasan ng Comelec, maski sa plebiscite hindi ganun kataas ang boto (Hopefully it will be higher, but based on the experience of the Comelec, voter turnout in special elections and even in plebiscites is not that high),” Garcia said.

“Siguro suwerte na ang 60 to 65 percent hanggang 70 percent voter turnout,” he added.

The special polls will determine the new representative of the seventh district after former congressman Jesus Crispin Remulla vacated the post when he was named justice secretary.

The poll will cover the municipalities of Amadeo, Indang and Tanza as well as the city of Trece Martires with a total of 355,184 registered voters.

There will be 426 clustered precincts in 75 voting centers.

Garcia yesterday supervised the final testing and sealing activities for the special elections on Feb. 25.

Citing reports, Garcia said all 426 vote counting machines that would be used in the elections functioned and counted the votes properly. No unit or SD card malfunctioned.

He said the only problem encountered during the final testing and sealing were incidents of paper jams, which were immediately remedied.