Elections Buzz

05-10-2010 Monday

Regardless of the fact that I had no sleep at all, I still went to the precinct to vote and be part of the country's very first automated election. Having no sleep is like a normal phenomena for me, nothing new as far as my night routine goes-- I lie in bed, stay awake, let the memories consume me, then I cry. That's exactly what I did last night, add the tossing and turning as well. Bothered; that's what I am.

Since it's useless to stay in bed, I got out of it the moment I heard my gramma woke up. I checked the clock when she turned the lights on. 3:30AM. Too early for a lot of things. She was a bit surprised when she saw me following her in the kitchen but I didn't say anything. Silence has become a good friend of mine lately.

I prepared myself a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. I ate in silence, there's no sense to talk about how bad my night had been. Damien did the usual greet of touching my lap with his big paws. I scratched his head and for a second, I felt good, having a dog is priceless.

At around 6 am, me, my gramma and mom went to the nearby school in our place where we are assigned to vote. The school is getting crowded when we get there. I forgot my precinct number so it took me more than half an hour to know what my cluster is. My mom and gramma are on the same precinct and they didn't have a hard time finding theirs.

First automated election? What about it? The line was longer, the wait was even harder, and there's still the same problem of not finding their names on the master list.

When I finally found my precinct, the sun was starting to rise high in the sky and I stood in line outside for nearly two hours before I was able to enter the classroom which I first thought was where I can cast my vote, but turns out, it was JUST the holding area/waiting area. So I waited another 2 hours or so before I was able to vote.

I think what makes the wait longer is because of the fact that there are clusters now, which basically means, 4-5 precincts are squeezed into one, which means more names, more waiting in line, less machines. Smells fishy to me. The government sure has enough budget to provide ONE Picos machine PER Precinct, instead of combining precincts to clusters.

So I waited in line. And waited. And waited. My mom and gramma was able to finish first. They checked me in my precinct. I was getting impatient, it was getting hot, I was sweating, hungry, thirsty and I saw the concerned look on my gramma's face while my mom has the usual don't-give-a-damn blank stare. My gramma asked me if there's anything I would like, and I said that a bottle of ice cold water will be more than enough.

They left to go home. My gramma came back within half an hour, her hands full of the water tumbler and a plastic bag that contained some snacks. I was thankful for the water. It was almost 10 in the morning and I was only inches close to being irate.

Finally, after 5 hours of waiting in line, I was able to vote. The ballot was a hell of a paper. It was long, wide and the circles that you need to shade are extremely small, that I began to wonder how the elderly voters would see these freaking circles. The Party List section consumed the most space in the front of the ballot, while the Mayor, Vice Mayor and Representatives position are hidden in the back. Due to that, my gramma missed the back portion, therefore, missing the chance to vote for the remaining positions printed there.

We were back in the house by 11:30. I can't believe that I just spent more than 5 hours of my life for this day waiting in line. Not to mention that it didn't do much to make me forget about the things that are bothering me. I was tired, spent, and I still want to shoot myself in the head after the long day.

Long day..and I still have to work later...bummed!

Labels: Automated election, ballot, cluster, Elections, Philippines, pink crimson, precinct

posted by Monica-Lynne @ 7:25 PM