More than 50 million Philippines voters will choose a president, vice president, nearly 300 lawmakers in the two-chamber Congress, and more than 17,500 local government officials in the country's first automated polls on May 10.
Here are key facts about the elections:
• A total of 50,086,054 registered voters as of January 2010 are eligible to vote at 80,000 polling precincts in 80 provinces across the Philippines.
• Each precinct has an average of 1,000 voters. The country has a population of about 92 million.
• Voters will elect a president, vice president, 12 senators, 222 representatives and 52 party-list positions in the lower house of Congress, 80 governors, 80 vice governors, 136 city mayors, 136 vice mayors, 1,495 municipal mayors, 1,495 vice mayors and 14,178 provincial, city and municipal legislative positions.
• The Philippines will use an automated voting process for the first time
• The counting machines will automatically generate a tally of votes, which will be transmitted to servers at municipal, provincial and national election offices.
• Printed copies of the returns will be shared with the two major political parties, and an election watchdog headed by a church-based group will do a parallel quick count.
• The election returns from polling precincts, transmitted electronically, will be canvassed by a board at the municipal, city, provincial and national levels. Results are expected within two hours at the local levels and 36 hours at the national level.
• At the end of canvassing, the winners at the provincial, legislative, district, city and municipal elections will be proclaimed.
• The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Manila will proclaim winners in the senatorial and party list election.
• A joint session of Congress will announce winners in the presidential and vice presidential elections. Comelec estimates the election period will end on June 9.
