The Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to extend the voting hours as some polling areas "still have queues of voters" and some experience "vote counting machine malfunctions."

“LENTE believes that the long lines still in various voting centers nationwide manifest people’s willingness to vote which must be recognized and satisfied as provided in the Omnibus Election Code,” it said in a statement.

The group said it "noted various circumstances unfair to voters and which go beyond their control."

“These included numerous malfunctioning vote counting machines, bottlenecks created by the Covid-19-related protocols, unfamiliarity of electoral board members in implementing an electoral exercise in a pandemic setting, and the record-number of new registrants that added to the pool of voters,” it said.

The Comelec also must explain the reason behind the malfunctioning of some vote counting machines.

"We call on the Comelec to identify the reasons that led to the VCM breakdowns as well as the patterns among these," it said.

"LENTE demands Comelec to ensure accountability and transparency so that we can have inclusiveness in our future elections," it added.

To note, voting centers were open from 6 a.m to 7 p.m. on Monday, May 9.

VCM breakdown

Meanwhile, Kontra Daya said that the breakdown of vote counting machines this election was “much worse compared to the past two elections.”

Citing data from Comelec, Kontra Daya said “at least 1,800 VCMs malfunctioned this year. This is almost double the 2016 and 2019 data.”

“Machine errors, including paper jams and ballot rejection, are among the causes of delayed elections,” it said.

“This has resulted in long queues outside the poll precincts, or voters being told to leave their ballots in the hands of their election officers for them to feed it later when the machine is fixed. Kontra Daya fears this may lead to disenfranchisement,” it added.