These People Are Lining Up for 10 Hours to Get Their Country Out of the 'Dark Ages'
It was still dark when Maui Mauricio, a video producer in Manila, Philippines, arrived at the driveway of a mall where the government was registering voters for next year’s elections. He made sure to be there by 4 a.m. because when he came at 7 a.m. the previous day, the line was already so long that he didn’t make the cut.
“I’ve always been an intrinsically politically neutral guy, but the past few years have changed that,” Mauricio, who at 38 was registering to vote for the first time, told VICE World News. “Who are we kidding? Our society is pretty fucked.”
It’s the final month of voter registration for the May 2022 polls, and it’s shaping up to be an exciting contest, with the likes of boxing icon Manny Pacquiao and former matinee idol Francisco Moreno running for president.
At least 63 million Filipinos have registered to vote so far, and even more are turning up in droves at sign-up centers in malls and public halls amid the country’s worst wave of COVID-19 infections yet. Despite the risks posed by the pandemic, the lines and wait times are longer than previous years, according to a poll watchdog.
The sign-up rate, currently at 85 percent of eligible voters, has exceeded those from previous polls. Observers have attributed the enthusiasm to frustration with the government’s handling of the pandemic as well as to the appeal of celebrity candidates.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7e933/philippines-elections-duterte-voter-registration
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Important because A: The Philippines are our allies and strategically important, and B: I read that Philippine T***p-clone Duterte is "retiring from politics"
= new reply since forum marked as read
