'We should demand that the elderly, the PWDs, and pregnant women should vote early.... But there should be a law to allow the Comelec to do that,' said Chairman George Garcia.
MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections on Tuesday, October 18, pushed for a law allowing senior citizens, persons with disabilities , and pregnant women to vote ahead of election day.
In a public forum organized by the coalition Participate, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said part of his reform agenda is for vulnerable sectors to be allowed to vote one week earlier. This would be similar to the local absentee voting offered to the police, the military, and the media – sectors expected to work during elections.
Garcia discussed these plans after a senior citizen voter in the forum shared his experience regarding the difficulty of voting. After refusing to sign a waiver for poll workers to feed their ballots for them, the senior citizen and his wife had to climb to the second floor to personally put in their votes.
“We should demand that the elderly, the PWDs, and pregnant women should vote early,” Garcia said in response. “But there should be a law to allow the Comelec to do that.”a proposal allowing early voting for vulnerable sectors. The bill, however, failed to clear the Senate in time for the 2022 elections. Garcia hopes that with the support of civil society, this plan would gain enough traction to be enacted into law.
Dr. Arvin Serrano from the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting agreed it is important to improve voting accessibility for all groups. “na hindi sila nakakabotoHe also urged vulnerable groups – including pregnant women and indigenous people – to use the established emergency accessible polling places, which should be located on the ground floor of polling precincts.
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