Ballot casting takes 40 minutes based on voting simulation –Comelec

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) ran a voting simulation at the San Juan Elementary School in San Juan City on Saturday to prepare for Eleksyon 2022.

Comelec clarified that the simulation was not to check whether vote counting machines worked, but to determine the process of voting on election day itself in May 2022, according JP Soriano's report on Super Radyo DZBB.

Meanwhile, in Soriano’s “24 Oras Weekend” report, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said that the expected voting time would only take 30 to 40 minutes.

“Lahat na ‘yun pagpasok mo [sa voting precincts] assuming na lahat ng dokumento ay in order or lahat ng kailangan mahanap ay mahahanap agad,” Jimenez said.

(The time starts when you enter voting precincts, assuming that all documents are in order or all that needed to be found would be located immediately.)

The Comelec is targeting to hasten the voting process and decongest the number of people in a polling precinct as the country was set to conduct its first election amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said voting procedures must be accomplished as quickly as possible to prevent COVID-19 transmission.

During the voting stimulation, the commission said the isolation-polling places worked as planned.

The voter’s assistance desk also helped to guide voters to their voting precinct.

The San Juan Elementary School, where the simulation was run, was one of the schools with the most voting precincts in the city, according to a Super Radyo dzBB report by Luisito Santos.

#Eleksyon2022: San Juan Elementary School sa San Juan City, handa na para sa isasagawang voting simulation ng @COMELEC ngayong araw. | via @luisitosantos03 pic.twitter.com/jgGNwLLSe8

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) October 22, 2021

More than 4,000 volunteers joined the simulation from different barangays.

Security was tight as personnel from the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Public and Order Safety Office (POSO) were deployed in the school's vicinity.

ATM: Comelec conducts voting simulation at San Juan Elementary School for #Eleksyon2022 @gmanews @dzbb pic.twitter.com/qB89W0iuIz

— JP Soriano (@jpsoriano) October 23, 2021

LOOK: Sample ballot na gagamitin sa voting simulation sa San Juan Elementary School ngayong araw @dzbb pic.twitter.com/fytvOwjlZW

— Luisito Santos (@luisitosantos03) October 23, 2021

#Eleksyon2022: Isa sa mga clustered precinct na ginagamit ng @COMELEC para sa voting simulation sa San Juan Elementary School sa San Juan City. | via @luisitosantos03 pic.twitter.com/pFuIlWB2RQ

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) October 23, 2021

Comelec specifically looked at how fast a registered voter would determine his or her designated precinct.

#Eleksyon2022: @COMELEC, nilinaw na simulation ng voting operational causes ang isinasagawa sa San Juan Elementary School sa San Juan City at hindi simulation ng voting system. | via @jpsoriano pic.twitter.com/T0Ic7dtHbl

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) October 23, 2021

Eleksyon 2022 will be held on May 9. — Richa Noriega and Jamil Santos/DVM/KG, GMA News