Mauie Flores

A Facebook friend posted, "It feels so first world..." with the Philippine election results ready in just two days. I agree. And it somehow gives me a sense of pride that I was part of history. Last Monday, my husband I trooped to the public school nearby to cast our vote. Armed with a fan and a bottle of cold water, I prepared myself for the long queue to the PCOS machine. It was 2 in the afternoon and the heat was unbearable outside.

Surprisingly, what my Plurk and Twitter friends ranted about in their respective areas were not applicable in my place. The teachers in Marick Elementary School in our barangay were accommodating and were very organized. We were done in less than a quarter of an hour - from finding our precint number down to the application of the indelible ink on our fingers. I was so relieved that I didn't get to have problems feeding my ballot into the PCOS machine. I even stayed for a little while to see how my husband and the other voters inserted their ballots into the machine. Hahaha, I was like a tot who's amazed with a supermarket barcode scanner!

My president did not win and he conceded to the new president the following day. Then again, I am still proud that it is the oval beside his name that I shaded. He dreamed to transform the country and I believe that he can still do so even without being president.

How was your first automated voting experience?

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