Voter Turnout Nears 17% by Noon

By 12 p.m., nearly 17 percent of registered voters had cast their ballots nationwide, the Election Commission reported.

A total of 3,163,736 votes had been recorded by that time, representing 16.74 percent of the electorate.

This election has 18,903,689 eligible voters, including 915,119 first-time voters.