Comelec's Garcia: Let's abandon schools as polling places

Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman George Garcia wants to hold future elections in the country not in classrooms but in malls where voting is more convenient.

Mall-voting was pilot-tested on Monday during the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) in 11 malls in select areas in Metro Manila, Albay, and Cebu City.

Garcia earlier stressed that mall-voting did not incur additional expenses for the Comelec but was provided free by mall owners.

“Let’s abandon the schools as polling places. It’s high time that we find other places basta libre (as long as they are free of charge),” Garcia said Monday.

The Comelec chair visited several schools that served as polling centers on Monday.

“Maluwag ang malls samantalang sa isang eskuwelahan na pinuntahan natin, sa isang kuwarto, napakaliit. Ang liliit pa ng mga upuan ng mga bata,” he said.

(Malls are more spacious, while in one of the schools that we visited the classroom was small. Even the chairs used by the students were small.)

Vice President and Department of Education Secretary Sara Duterte had earlier lamented that it is DepEd that pays for the electricity, water, and damage in schools from elections. —KBK, GMA Integrated News