Have you been part of any elections before?

Hi Neildc!^^ I am ashamed to this but in my 27 years of life, I have never been part of an election.^^;; Yes, I have never voted much as I have never been part of a canvassing board or anything. When I turned 18, I went to another province to study and I got so focused in my studies that I couldn't give attention to registering to be a voter. I was never home during time of elections too. I was always away. Even after when I graduated, I worked in a different province. Going home only for vacations. It was only last year that I was able to register because I am now settled here in my hometown. I just got transferred last year so I was able to give attention to my voting rights. I am actually excited since this will be my first time to vote. I can't wait to cast my votes and be a Filipino.^^

I would say that I have been a voter since I was 18 years old. But unfortunately, I haven't been involve in any of the movements to protect the ballot. My mother was a public school teacher before and she used to mange one precinct in our place. I could see her really go through by counting the ballots manually before and they would really go home really late at night already. Luckily there was no bad incident that happened during her time. I guess that was my part of joining by being there at the precinct to watch over the counting and at the same time ensure that our mother is safe in her precinct.

I have tried as a watcher once and it was not easy, tiring too..I was Teaching in the Philippines but never tried to serve, heard from my friends that the money they earned from serving is not worth from the job, sleepless night and danger...But, I still salute them for doing it! Let's hope for the best of the coming election!

I have never participated in any elections other than being a voter.. I have always wanted to be a watcher, but have never found the local candidate that I really want to be a volunteer for.. maybe this year I would try to be a watcher for some local candidate or a local organization and not just be a normal voter.

Nope. Never been a part of the canvassing. not a candidate either. But i was once a flying voter. Would you believe that i was able to cast my vote when i was 16 years old?

The last president I voted was Cory. hehehe. That was a very long time ago. Because everytime there's an election, at the back of my head, hmmmm..., they're all the same then why should I vote? But right now maybe I'll try to cast my vote for local candidates. For national? I haven't choose 1 yet.

Yes, I am a certified board of elections polls worker. I work most every election, even the small ones with no candidates. For instance the last election I worked was for a local school board who were voting on funding for a new roof for the high school. I enjoy my work there and advise anyone who has ever been interested to go down to your local Board of Elections office and ask to be put on the list of workers that they call when in need of people for the elections. Working the election is not only a great opportunity to be a part of the process but also to get to know your surrounding neighbors personally. I am now recognized much more in my community because I have been seen working the polls.

Hi, neildc. I have never been part of any kind of election before. I have been only a voter. I have never ran for an candidate position before. I just stay on the side lines. I would rather leave this job to the big guys. If this was my career, I would probably be doing it.

No I don't want to be part of election. My mother tried to be watcher before and she don't want to be there anymore. It is tiring and stressful. We know that during this time it is very dangerous many got killed before because some wants to win.

Hello there neildc, NO, i never experience any thing else besides being a voter. but my mom was a retired master teacher and she used to be in charge in the counting in her school. that's why she never gets the chance to vote in our place. but am sure she will vote now that she has retired. canvassing is not an easy job at all. Good luck to the teachers and i pray for all of their safety

Hi neil! I've never been a part of any elections except a voter. I guess I just didn't like the idea, or shall I say, I'm scared of the idea of participating in an election (except voting of course :D). I'm just afraid that there might be some trouble or something. And yeah, usually it takes like until 3am to finish the canvassing of votes. But for this year's election, I believe it won't be taking that long since the canvassing will already be automated. Once all the votes have been cast, it will then be sent electronically to the main server which would only take like 5 minutes. I was actually able to attend a some sort of a seminar (conducted by PoliticalArena.com and COMELEC) on how the PCOS (Proceed Count Optical Scan) System works and how the election's gonna be this year now that it's automated. And based on what I've learned so far I do believe that this upcoming election will be a lot smoother and faster because of the automation. I'm actually planning to blog what I've learned during the seminar in order to spread awareness to the rest of the voters but I'm still in the midst of it, hehehe! I guess I can say that that would be my greatest role in the coming elections, so that I can help people understand and be aware on how to vote this May 2010.

yup! i was third member of the board of election inspector for three straight in row, my experience is, with our stone age election system cheating is really inevitable...

I certainly have right to elect at general election, and I have used it several times. But for the position that you mentioned, I never have been one for once. I know that when a general election comes to a near, there are several position that linked with the election. But I never even tried to struggle to get one, because I think it is nor necessary for me, nor that I am interested in.

I've been waiting for so long to turn 18 so I could vote. Elections were usually in october but the year when I turned 18, they moved them to september and I was 17 in time for them. I was really angry about that. So there was another election last year and I voted. I thought it was going to be really exciting but the reality was that it was really boring and nothing special. And less than 5% of people in my town voted, so it didn't count anywhere. I will never be a candidate for anything because I really hate politics.

I have not taken any part in canvassing or watching or anything except being a voter myself. I don't want to be part of that process because that would require lots of patience, time and effort and I am not that patient to involve myself in that activity. All that I could do as a Filipino citizen is to vote the best people for the respective positions and I hope that once they are elected they will meet my expectation.

Yes.. Last year me and my sister were invited by the PPCRV team to volunteer our services during the election. Because we have also been part of the CARITAS project, we joined them besides it is your time to serve your country even in just a few days and in small matters. We then were in-charge of collecting the ballots from town to town until we have collected all from one district and travel them to the capital city for consolidation. Travelling the documents was the hardest part because you'd be nervous, anytime and anywhere there might be people interested in the documents we were holding. Problems came when counting started and the 6th page (which was supposed to be the PPCRV copy) is nearly blank because it was carbonized and the writing on the first page was not strong enough to go through the next pages. Differences in the counting was because of this issue. It really is hard to be part of the elections. Not only as a voter but as a citizen of the country. You will see what is going on and just pray that the election will end peacefully.

hello neil, I was never been a candidate opppss...i won't dare either(hehehe) Well,i had played some part of it..being a poll watcher. It was exciting and some fun also. Exciting coz,it was my first time...fun,becoz,i liked it. I like the idea of the activity...danger and thrill(i guess you know what i mean) It's far different from delivering reports(media)and taking shots of the event(field reports). So,it's kinda exciting for me...i felt like i am a first timer military being deployed at the battle field(nyahahaha). This coming election...well,i don't know if i will take part with it again. Have a good day always dear friend

I just vote and that's all I know and want to do during election day. I'm not interested in trying to change others point of views to whom they will choose. It won't make that much difference anyway, but at least I prefer to choose the clean candidate.