39% of Pinoys expect cheating

48% see honest polls   

MANILA, Philippines - Four in 10 Filipinos, or 39 percent, expect cheating to take place in the elections in May, but 48 percent still expect it to be clean and credible, the latest survey by Pulse Asia found.

Twenty-nine percent said they did not expect cheating to occur, while 32 percent were undecided on the matter, according to the survey taken from Jan. 24 to 28.

Most of those who expect cheating in the upcoming elections were from Mindanao at 56 percent, followed by the Visayas with 42 percent, balance Luzon with 31 percent and Metro Manila with 29 percent.

Among those expecting cheating to occur in May 2016, 65 percent of respondents said vote-buying was most likely to happen. This was the predominant view in all geographic areas and socio-economic classes, with 56 to 71 percent and 56 to 66 percent, respectively.

The second most mentioned form of cheating was tampering of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines at 37 percent, followed by attempts to change the actual vote count and the presence of flying voters at 32 percent and 31 percent, respectively.

Other forms of cheating cited by the respondents were hoarding of votes and the replacement of ballots inserted in the PCOS machines, at 25 percent and 24 percent, respectively.

Eighteen percent cited harassment of voters and election officers while 16 percent cited stealing of PCOS machines. Fewer than one percent cited blackouts as a form of cheating that may occur.

But the survey also found that nearly half of Filipinos expect the elections to be “clean” and the results “credible” with the use of the automated counting system.

The survey found 48 percent of respondents agreed with the statement “the May 2016 elections will be clean and the results credible because the counting of votes is automated.”

Fifteen percent of the respondents did not agree that the elections would be clean, while 36 percent were ambivalent on the matter.

Political dynasty

Public opinion regarding electoral support or non-support for politicians belonging to political dynasties is split three ways, according to the survey.

The poll found that 34 percent of Filipinos said they don’t see anything wrong with electing candidates who belong to political dynasties. 

Thirty-two percent of them, however, have a contrary opinion, and 34 percent were undecided on the matter.

Fifty percent of respondents in Metro Manila disagreed with the view that candidates coming from political dynasties should not be elected, followed by the Visayas and Mindanao with 34 percent each, and balance Luzon with 29 percent.

The nationwide survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,800 registered voters 18 years old and above. It has an error margin of plus or minus two percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.