t is nice to be able to vote again. It is a good thing that COMELEC started to modernize the electoral process of the country, kudos to them. However, since it is a new process to us few glitches have observed.
1) Machine problem. Can you imagine Presidential candidate Benigno Aquino waited for hours just to vote and then not able to use the billion peso technology to count his vote. They reported that the PCOS machine has a problem and Smartmatic technician was not able to repair it. Poor technical support.
2) Paper problem. If you press hard the pen in shading the circle inside the ballot chances are it will cause a blot to the back of the paper that will cause the machine to reject your ballot.
3)Indelible Ink. The word "indelible" means "cannot be removed". Then why I remove the ink on my index finger just using an alcohol? I smell money for the contract of this Ink. It is supposed to be one of the safeguard against flying voters but I doubt it served its purpose.
4)Machine Display. How could I know that the machine counted the vote right. I wasn't able to see what the machine reads on my ballot. Would a simple congratulations sufficient? Hmmm..
5) Clustered Precinct. To save cost for PCOS machine 2-5 precincts are combined per 1 machine. Result: extension of voting up to 7pm instead of 6pm. Imagine falling in line just to get a priority number and wait again for almost 1 1/2 hours just to actually vote. Were just lucky in Davao that Mr Sunshine didn't show up.
Still I am thankful that I was able to select people I want for government positions. Good luck to us and to our country. I hope that we made the best choice this time.