FORTY-SIX percent of Filipinos will not go out and vote on election day next year if COVID-19 cases in their barangay remain high.
This was disclosed by Senate majority leader Juan Miguel Zubiri on Wednesday based on an embargoed survey by Pulse Asia last June that he commissioned.
He expressed the fear that next year’s elected leaders–from president down to councilors–will not represent majority of Filipino voters.
Based on the survey, 57 percent of voters in Metro Manila will not go out and vote on election day next year if the number of COVID-19 cases in their locality is high while 50 percent in Luzon, 37 percent in the Visayas, and 40 percent in Mindanao will likewise not go out and vote under similar circumstances.
Forty-eight percent of voters belonging to social classes A, B, C, and D and 37 percent from social class E will also not go out and vote under similar circumstances. Nineteen percent of voters are undecided.
Zubiri said the people cannot be blamed for their fear of COVID-19.
“We cannot blame them if that is their position since they fear of getting infected. Human lives are more important than voting,” Zubiri said, adding if the pandemic persists until next year the Commission on Elections should draw an action plan to address administrative problems.
Aside from the strict observance of health protocols in voting places, he said Congress can craft a measure “extending the period of election beyond one day to avoid overcrowding at the polling precinct.”
“But the most important is vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate,” he added.
