国际英语新闻：First automated polls open in Philippines

MANILA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The first automated elections of the Philippines kicked off on Monday.

The country's 36,679 polling stations are open at 7 a.m. and due to close at 6:00 p.m., with a winner potentially to be known before midnight. Queues formed at many polling stations before the opening.

As this was the first automated elections ever held in the history of this island country, Philippine Commissioner of the Election Commission (Comelec) Gregorio Larrazabal said, "We are both nervous and excited," at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.

Voters look for their names on a name list outside a polling station in Tarlac province, in northern Philippines May 10, 2010. The Philippine's general election voting for the president, parliament and local leaders began at 36,679 polling stations all over the country at 7 a.m. Monday. More than 50 million Filipinos have been registered as voters this year, of whom, 85 percent said they would vote, according to the Election Commission (Comelec).

"Nervous because you really don't know what to expect; excited because this is it. A lot of Filipinos are looking forward to this day," he added.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was the first to cast vote at the Lubao Central Elementary School in Pampanga province, her hometown, on Monday.

GMA Network's live coverage showed President Arroyo arriving early at the polling center, together with her eldest son, Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo.