Cavite special elections extended until 5:00 p.m. Saturday amid bad weather

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has decided to extend the voting hours for the ongoing special elections for the 4th Legislative District of Cavite amid the bad weather.

The Commission En Banc via a unanimous vote had decided to extend the voting hours of the Dasmariñas special election up to 5pm," Comelec Chair George Garcia said in a message to reporters on Saturday.

Garcia earlier said that the elections could be extended to accommodate voters who want to wait for better weather conditions.

Garcia said they are hoping to have a 50% voter turnout for the election that seeks to replace expelled House lawmaker Francisco “Kiko” Barzaga.

“Nung nakaraan sabi natin sana maka 60 to 65%, ngayon, kontento na tayo kung kahit maka 50% man lang ang makaboto,” he said.

(In the past we hoped for 60 to 65%, now, we are content if we just hit at least 50% of voters.)

There are 447,387 registered voters in the 4th Legislative District of Cavite, according to Comelec.

Garcia earlier said that at least 5,772 voters have cast their ballots across more than 1,100 precincts in the city.

The poll body is looking to proclaim the winner of the special election early dawn of Sunday.

“Hopefully, bago mag alas-singko ng madaling araw bukas, maproklema natin ang winning candidate,” Garcia said.

(Hopefully, before 5:00 early tomorrow morning, the winning candidate will be proclaimed.) —VAL, GMA News