With the canvassing of votes for senators and party-list groups nearly complete, the Commission on Elections said yesterday that the proclamation of the winning candidates today is now almost certain.
“Again, with 1,050,681 votes from Isabela expected tonight, I think at this point it is a pretty sure bet that we will have a proclamation tomorrow,” Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said. “All indications point to proclamation tomorrow and in fact we are preparing as if it were tomorrow just to be on the safe side,” he added.
In the event that the proclamation pushes through, Jimenez said this means they were able to complete the canvassing in seven days which is earlier than the 10 days in 2016. “This is an important point…considering all of the trouble that attended this elections, the fact that we’re having it this early is also a good thing,” Jimenez said.
The Comelec denied allegations that they are hurrying the proclamation. “In fact, some people are complaining that we’re taking too much time. There is a call for early proclamation, we have resisted that so far…clearly we have stayed the course with our goal of proclaiming just one batch of senators and party-lists. This is the most equitable arrangement so nobody is left behind,” said Jimenez.
Meanwhile, the Comelec has initially pegged the voter turnout in the May 13 midterm polls at 74.89 percent.
Jimenez said this translates to a 46,343,423 voter turnout based from the Certificates of Canvass they have canvassed so far. “We are on track to meet the 75 percent projection we said earlier,” he said.
The Comelec placed the turnout at 77.08 percent or 22,605 voters out of the 29,326 registered voters in the local absentee voting.
The voter turnout for manual election is 20.66 percent or 21,368, according to the Office for Overseas Voting.
As of Sunday, the Comelec en banc, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers, has canvassed 162 out of the 167 total CoCs.
CoCs that have yet to be canvassed are Isabela, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United States, and Nigeria.
According to Jimenez, the five remaining CoCs have 1.6-million registered voters. (Leslie Aquino)
