Partial tally of Saipan votes show GMA leading

Unofficial partial results show Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo leading the Asian country’s absentee voting on Saipan.

A total of 4,740 out of 7,003 registered Filipino voters cast their ballots at the polling place at the Nauru Building in Susupe, which translates to a voter turnout percentage of 67.68.

The CNMI chapter of the National Movement for Free Elections, a non-profit Philippine election watchdog, released the ranking of candidates based on its unofficial “quick count operations.” NAMFREL-CNMI chairman Bong Sese said the ranking covered 4,320 votes.

Trailing behind Arroyo in the presidential race is opposition candidate Fernando Poe Jr., followed by Sen. Panfilo Lacson. Former Education Secretary Raul Roco follows, then religious leader Eddie Villanueva .

In the vice presidential race, Noli de Castro leads over Loren Legarda. Both are broadcasters and senators in the Philippines.

The top 12 senatorial candidates include Alfredo Lim, Mar Roxas, Richard Gordon, Bong Revilla, Orly Mercado, Robert Barbers, Lito Lapid, Rudolfo Biazon, Aquilino Pimentel, Miriam Santiago, Pia Cayetano and Boots Anson-Roa.

Filipino volunteers affiliated with the Philippines’ Commission on Elections, political parties and NAMFREL vigilantly took their respective posts since Monday night when the counting of votes began. As of press time, the official tally of votes has yet to be released by the COMELEC.

The Saipan election process is part of the newly implemented absentee voting system in the Philippines, which afforded Filipinos outside the country the chance to vote.

Although the polling place closed its doors to voters at 5pm Monday, election personnel managed to start the counting of votes only at about 10:30pm. “Because this is the first time, it took long preparations,” said Sese.

During preparations before the counting began, electrical power tripped off at the polling center. Some Filipinos who witnessed this jokingly welcomed this development, a scenario associated with electoral fraud that plagued Philippine elections in the past. There were cases of ballot snatching and switching in the Philippines in previous elections.

NAMFREL said the Saipan polls were generally clean and credible, with leaders of various Filipino organizations in the CNMI participating in the vote counting process as volunteers. Sese said, however, that he detailed a NAMFREL volunteer in the polling center’s power switches.

Philippine consul general Wilfredo Maximo and consul Wenceslao Gayola supervised the electoral process as special board of election inspectors.