Dubai: Results of the Overseas Voting in the Philippine missions on Monday will be known “quicker” than the normal canvassing time in the past that took days and weeks.

The automated election in the missions here makes it easier to know the results in a matter of hours or even days compared to the manual counting in the past that took a long time to come up with the final count.

Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Constancio Vigno Jr said the month-long presidential polls will close exactly at 1pm on Monday at the embassy and consulate. Those who make it to the queue within 30 metres from embassy and consulate gate by 1pm will be accommodated to vote.

“After the last vote is cast, we will initialise the canvassing machine and upload the votes in the secured digital cards (SD cards) and transmit it to the Philippines via satellite,” Vingno, also the chairman of the Special Board of Canvassers in the UAE, told Gulf News.

Vingno could not give a specific time as to when final results will be ready but he said the transmission time depends on how many votes are in the SD cards and how many cards there are. As per design, each card can contain a maximum of 1,000 votes.

Local media reports said Smartmatic, the electronic voting company provider of the Philippines, said Smartmatic executives expect election results to come in within 24 hours.

In the 2010 presidential election, Smartmatic said the winning president was known only two hours after the voting ended while the remaining 16,000 winning candidates were announced within 12 hours after the polls closed.

“The transmission process will be transparent and open to the members of the public such as poll watchers, majority and minority party volunteers, and the media that are accredited by the Commission on Elections. A projector will be set up in the hall so the results are visible to everyone,” Vigno said.

The same is true for the consulate, Consul-General Paul Raymund Cortes said.

“As soon as we close the vote counting machine, we will generate and print the results that will be posted in the board for the public to see. The consolidation of votes will be done in Abu Dhabi,” Cortes told Gulf News.

The Philippine missions in the UAE have made ways to stretch the voting hours — even extending to 29 hours straight on the last two days — in the month-long Overseas Elections. But officials stressed that the 1pm deadline on May 9 cannot be extended and latecomers’ rights will be forfeited.

“Unfortunately, the law is clear about the closing time of the polls that should be synchronised with the Philippine closing time at 5pm. We cannot bend the law just to accommodate [last-minute] voters,” Cortes said.

Overseas Filipinos are voting for their president, vice-president, 12 senators, and one party-list representative.

 

VOTING HOURS: 29 hours

Embassy and Consulate: May 8: 8am to May 9: 1pm (no break)