INQUIRER.net Eleksyon 2007

Namfrel partial tally as of 11:58 p.m. May 24

MANILA, Philippines -- NASSA/Namfrel partial unofficial tally as of 11:58 p.m. May 24, from 158,427 out of 224,748 precincts (70.49 percent of total)

1. Legarda 12,210,257

2. Escudero 11,942,783

3. Lacson 10,501,717

4. Villar 10,068,933

5. Pangilinan 9,587,549

6. Aquino 9,533,866

7. Angara 8,378,165

8. Honasan 7,829,119

9. Cayetano, A 7,764,283

10. Arroyo 7,612,471

11. Trillanes 7,448,141

12. Pimentel 7,308,035

Namfrel to stay in La Salle after May 26

MANILA, Philippines -- The National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) will extend its operations in the La Salle Green Hills campus after May 26 in anticipation of the special elections on that day.

The Commission on Elections announced earlier that special elections will be held in at least 13 towns in Lanao del Sur province, where a failure of elections was indicated.

However, Namfrel will move its equipment to a different area in the campus. It has been using the third floor of the school's gym and it will be moved to a smaller area.

Namfrel secretary general Eric Alvia said that the school's administration allowed an extension for another week from Saturday.

Alvia also said they hope to finish 82 percent of their quick count by Saturday midnight.

"We're still receiving election returns from some areas, including Metro Manila," Alvia said.

84% of voters are not influenced by surveys--SWS

Only 16 out of every 100 Filipino voters said election survey news affect the way they vote, according to a pre-election survey by the Social Weather Stations.

The survey also found that three out of every 100 registered voters could be called "bandwagonners"--or those who would switch to "stronger candidates"--while five out of every 100 could be called "underdoggers," defined as those who would favor "weaker candidates."

"Thus the votes of 84 percent were not affected by election surveys at all," SWS said in a statement released Thursday.

Asked if they had read or heard of any news on surveys about who would most likely win the senatorial race, 48 percent said they were aware of election survey news, while 52 percent said they were not.

Those who were aware of election survey news were asked whether they would change their votes "to a candidate strong in surveys from one weak in surveys" and whether they would change their votes "to a candidate weak in surveys from one strong in surveys."

About two-thirds of those who were aware, or 32 percent of the total respondents, said "no" to both questions.

Across areas, awareness of election survey news was highest in Metro Manila (58 percent). It was 52 percent in the Visayas, 51 percent in the balance of Luzon and only 35 percent in Mindanao.

Meanwhile, the percentage of those who said that election survey news would have no effect on their votes was also highest in Metro Manila (43 percent). It was 37 percent in the rest of Luzon, 32 percent in Visayas and 19 percent in Mindanao.

Across socio-economic classes, awareness of election survey news was highest among members of upper to middle classes ABC (77 percent) and lowest among members of poorest class E (39 percent). Nearly half of class D (49 percent) was aware of such news.

Fifty-five percent in class ABC, 33 percent in class D and 26 percent in class E also said that the election survey news had no effect on their votes.

The survey was conducted from May 2 to 4 using face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults divided into random samples of 300 each in Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. It had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points.