May 10, 2010 was not just a simple National Election Day but also the First Ever Automated Election Day that had happened here in the Philippines. It was the first time that I had exercised my rights to vote so I was so very excited. Here’s what happened to me that day….

It was around 8:30 A.M. when I arrived at the precinct station I was assigned to vote and more than 100 voters were ahead of me. I saw my Nanay with some friends and a group of people falling in line. They told me that the PCOS machine broke down so the casting of votes were interrupted. My Nanay also said that I need to get into the line and get a number so that if the machine will work again they will call the number by tens to enter the precinct and vote. Luckily, I saw my Ninang on the line and walked behind her (singit) some people got mad at me but I just ignored them (sorry!). I got number 68 Done distributing with the numbers but still the machine was not yet fixed so they replaced it a new one and unfortunately the back up that they have still doesn’t want to work (Badtrip!) We waited outside, it was hot and everyone was tired and hungry. After 4 hours of waiting they started to call all the senior citizens, disabled and pregnant women to line up and resume the voting. They have instructed everyone to drop our ballot on the ballot box, no more using of machine. It was around 12:30 pm when I entered the precinct and cast my votes for around 20 minutes. I took so long because I do not have a list unlike others (nabayaran kasi). After shading I stood up and dropped my ballot in the ballot box and walked outside. I didn’t have the chance to use the machine, so for a first timer like me… it was a bad experienced