MANILA – The mock polls conducted in Metro Manila and several provinces in preparation for the 2022 national and local elections were successful, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Wednesday.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said many people have participated in the activity which simulated the election process from voting to canvassing.
“In general, coming from the rest of the mock election areas, the election…the mock elections were actually a success,” he said in a press briefing after the activity on Wednesday.
He said the mock polls held in huge areas “have a very high turnout”.
“In fact, in most places, we have a 100 percent turnout versus our expected number of voters, so I think that the exercise itself was very well run,” he added.
He, however, noticed some concerns particularly in the implementation of health protocols against Covid-19 pandemic.
“There are still lingering concerns on protocols,” he said.
Jimenez said the results of the mock elections will be reviewed to determine areas that need to be improved going into the actual election day on May 9, 2022.
“Again, we have quite a lot of data to process. We need to understand what happened today and how we can even improve it,” he said.
Atty. Ronald Santiago, election officer of 1st District in Pasay City, said maintaining physical distancing was one of the challenges they encountered.
“Maybe the challenges that we have is more on the implementation of the health protocols since most of the people who participated this morning…have challenges in terms of maintenance of physical distancing,” he said.
“I think most of the time that is our concern because of the protocols in the conduct of the mock elections is to validate the effectiveness of the minimum health protocols,” he added.
Santiago, however, said, “overall, I think we have a good turnout.”
Registered voters from the cities of Pasay, Taguig and the Municipality of Pateros and provinces of Isabela, Albay, Negros Oriental, Leyte, Maguindanao and Davao del Sur have participated in the mock polls. (PNA)