The Commission on Elections (Comelec) expects a high turnout of voters for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) in Western Visayas, with a majority of barangays hoping to proclaim winners before October 30 ends.

“We cannot have an exact projection, but we expect a high turnout considering that this is barangay elections, there are few candidates, and they know each other. And of course, they would like to support their candidates by casting their votes,” regional elections director lawyer Dennis Ausan said in an interview yesterday.

Western Visayas has 5,179,738 registered voters for the barangay, and 1,764,423 for the SK polls in 4,051 barangays.

Ausan said no major issues were reported when the voting began exactly at 7:00 a.m., although there were few adjustments made by the assigned Department of Education Supervisor officials.

“In the event [a] situation arises that is not in our procedure, then they have to adopt contingency measures set by the Commission,” he said.

Ausan said that after the casting of votes at 3:00 p.m., the electoral boards would immediately prepare to start the counting.

“In all probability, the majority of the polling places cannot reach midnight to proclaim winners unless there would be a delay for whatever reason,” he added.

Meanwhile, some voters complained they could no longer find their names on the official list.

Rose Anne Coni Frances Castallanes from Barangay Calumpang in Iloilo City’s Molo district, for the first time, could not find her name on the list and was advised to check with the Iloilo City Comelec for possible changes in her precinct assignment at the Esteban Juntado Sr. Memorial Elementary School.

Calumpang is one of the barangays with a high number of voters. It has 8,557 registered voters with two candidates for barangay captain, 33 for barangay councilors, four for SK chairperson and 25 for SK councilors. (PNA)