JEDDAH, 5 May 2004 — Here’s good news for last minute voters: The Philippine Consulate in Jeddah will open early on May 10, the last day of voting.
Administrative Officer Taha Guinomla, who is in charge of the absentee voting exercise in the Western Region, said the consulate will open at 7 a.m. on that date instead of the regular 8 a.m.
“We will open the gates of the consulate at exactly 7 a.m. Those who are inside the consulate by 10 a.m. (the closing time for absentee voting in the Kingdom) will be allowed to vote,” he told Arab News.
Guinomla said the 10 a.m. closing time in Saudi Arabia corresponds to the 3 p.m. closing time of voting in the Philippines.
Counting of votes cast at the consulate, as well as in the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh and at the International Philippine School in Alkhobar (IPSA) are to begin after the turnover process is finished.
More than 50 percent of the registered voters (more than 30,000) in the Western Region have cast their votes as of Monday, Arab News learned. Consulate officials and volunteers of the Commission on Election said they were expecting a rush of voters this weekend, citing the tendency of Filipinos to wait until the last minute to move.
Guinomla said they are ready for the onrush but he appealed to those who have not voted yet not to wait for the last day.
After the last vote had been cast on May 10, Guinomla said they would start the pre-counting process. This includes taking all the ballots from the boxes from day one of the election and bundling them into 100’s by the Special Board of Election Inspectors (SBEI). After the ballots had been bundled, the Special Board of Receipt and Guardians (SBRG) will give each precinct an initial 500 ballots to canvass.
Guinomla said the precounting process would take 3 to 4 hours. He said, however, that by 9 p.m., the consulate should be able to announce the first official tally.
Wooden boards have been readied for tallying of votes. Guinomla said the area between the consular building and the POLO office will be used for the counting. All votes will be tallied and posted on the boards and will be available for viewing to OFWs as long as space would allow.
Volunteers of the National Movement for Free Elections, or Namfrel, are also active in monitoring the election. Rudy Carillo, Namfrel chairman in Jeddah, said they will post the votes electronically so that those who can’t go to the consulate can trace the results via the Internet.