President Marcos has successfully cast his vote for the 2025 midterm elections, but not after encountering a technical glitch that forced him to feed his ballot into the automated counting machine (ACM) twice with the assistance of a Commission on Elections (Comelec) personnel.
Marcos casts vote; encounters error in feeding ballot
At A Glance
- Marcos arrived at Precinct Number 36-A in Mariano Marcos Memorial Elementary School, Batac City, Ilocos Norte, at 7:06 a.m. on Monday, May 12, with his mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos, and sister Irene Marcos-Araneta
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Marcos arrived at Precinct Number 36-A in Mariano Marcos Memorial Elementary School, Batac City, Ilocos Norte, at 7:06 a.m. on Monday, May 12, with his mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos, and sister Irene Marcos-Araneta. His son, Ilocos Norte First District Rep. and reelectionist Sandro Marcos, accompanied them.
The President shook hands with the people as he entered the school and went straight to their polling precinct. It took Marcos four minutes to finish shading his ballot, making him the first of the three to finish.
However, President Marcos' first attempt to feed his ballot into the ACM failed after encountering an error. This prompted a Comelec personnel to rush to the President's side, open the machine, reclaim his ballot, and let Marcos feed it into the ACM for the second time when the ballot was finally accepted.
After checking the receipt that the machine spat out, he got his fingernail inked, officially completing his vote. It took the President almost seven minutes to complete the voting process.
In a Facebook post, the President reiterated his appeal to Filipinos to vote.
"Bilang mga mamamayan, tungkulin nating makilahok sa halalan at tiyaking ito’y magiging mapayapa, maayos, at tapat (As citizens, it is our duty to participate in the election and ensure that it is peaceful, orderly, and with integrity)," he said.
"Sama-sama nating pangalagaan ang demokrasya (Together, let us safeguard democracy)," he added.
President Marcos will be monitoring the election results in Manila.
He is among the more than 68 million registered voters across the country. According to Comelec, 18,280 seats covering 14 different posts from senators to municipal councilors are up for grabs in this year's polls.
President Marcos declared May 12 a special nonworking holiday through Proclamation No. 878 to enable the Filipino people to properly exercise their right to suffrage.
The Chief Executive has campaigned for 11 senatorial bets under his Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas.