May 9 Polls Will Last Until 11:30 p.m. With The Voter’s Receipt –OSG

The national and local elections on May 9, 2016 will last until 11:30 p.m. of the same day if the printing of the voter’s receipt for each individual who has voted will push through.

This was stressed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) in its presentation of arguments before the Supreme Court (SC) En Banc on Thursday to support the Commission on Elections (Comelec) who will supervise the polls.

Solicitor General Florin T. Hilbay said the Members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) have to wake up at dawn of May 9, 2016 to prepare for the opening of the polling precincts at 7 a.m.

Hilbay argued that the Comelec does not have anymore time to sufficiently prepare for the reconfiguration of the vote counting machines (VCMs).

On the other hand, petitioner former Senator Richard J. Gordon said that the reconfiguration of the source code is not a problem because when the VCMs encountered a problem, the source code was reconfigured for only two days last February.

Gordon noted that instead of the Comelec performing its job after the decision of the SC, they announced to the voters many scenarios if the printing of the voter’s receipt of the VCM will be done.

He said that “kung ayaw gawin ay talagang maraming dahilan (if not willing to do the job, there are many reasons).”

Gordon further said that if the Comelec officials cannot do their job, they should either ask for assistance from the experts or just resign from their post. (PNA) SCS/PTR