Worth the Wait

Today marked a very important event in the history of Philippines, it's the first automated national election - Halalan 2010. We headed early to our voting precincts so eager and excited to cast our votes hoping to make a difference in our government system. We came prepared with our lists of candidates but we did not anticipate the long hours of waiting on the line. We arrived 9:30 am and excruciatingly waited for 5 hours and 30 minutes before we were finally able to cast our votes using the PCOS machines.

indelible ink placed over the point finger after voting
photo c/o my friend, Marie

It took me just about 10 minutes to finish filling up the ballot form, and when it was time to feed the ballot form in the machine (PCOS) to validate my vote, I never thought that waiting for the word "congratulations" would be so nerve wracking. Thankfully, the word came out and I felt so relieved that my vote was officially read by the machine. Whew! We came home tired and hungry but I'd say, the long hours of waiting was worth it. Now, all we have to do is wait and be vigilant for the counting and canvassing of our votes.