Obama wins mock polls in Manila

MANILA, Philippines - President Barack Obama emerged as the winner in yesterday’s mock polls organized by United States embassy in Manila and Cagayan de Oro City.

The mock election held at the SM North EDSA in Quezon City showed that Obama won hands down with 76 percent or 2,300 votes, defeating Mitt Romney who garnered 24 percent. 

US Ambassador Harry Thomas along with other embassy officials graced the event, coinciding with the mock polls at the SM City Cebu attended by US embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Brian Goldbeck.

He said that he was proud to continue working with Obama who won a second term along with Vice President Joseph Biden in the tightly contested US presidential election.

Meanwhile, close to a thousand students from various schools in Cagayan de Oro City participated in yesterday’s mock polls at the Magis Center in Xavier University.

Obama won with 703 votes against Romney’s 234.

William Cocks, assistant cultural affairs officer of the US embassy, said the event was meant to educate the students on what the American electoral system is all about.

Cocks said the mock polls should generate a greater understanding of democratic values among the Filipino students. “There are only a few instances of election fraud in the US,” Cocks said.

 Julius Apus, a senior International Studies student at Xavier and one of the “voters,” told The STAR he was excited when he took part in the mock election.

Apus said he has been following the US elections since 2010. He voted for Obama. – With Jigger Jerusalem