Serious concerns remain over automated polls

MANILA, Philippines – Foreign observers yesterday said the automation of elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is a “welcome improvement” over the manual system but “serious concerns remain.”

The 22 members of the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) commended the country’s law enforcement agencies for “maintaining a calm environment” during the polls.

ANFREL said the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Smartmatic-Sahi Technology Inc. and Avante International Technology – suppliers of the voting and counting machines used in the ARMM polls – also deserve recognition for their commitment to “making the election as just and free as possible,” and for dedicating their time to the polling and counting process.

“In sum, the ARMM elections were generally conducted with less violence. The new systems were certainly a welcome development over the manual system in previous elections,” it said.

According to ANFREL executive director Somsri Hananuntasuk, it was only in the Philippines that photographs of candidates were used to help voters identify them, adding that this scheme is worth emulating by other countries.

The group, however, observed that despite these efforts, “the election was visited by irregularities and anomalies.

For one, the observers noticed that there was no voter’s booths set up in poll precincts, compromising the “secrecy” of the ballots.

Hananuntasuk said in a press briefing they observed that in many polling precincts, voters were positioned with their backs to the window enabling people from outside to look over their shoulders.

“The secrecy of the votes is most important in an electoral process in every country. It’s simple to do that… Taiwan is a good example. They just put curtains in polling booth,” she added.

ANFREL also observed that in some places in Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao, there were voters who were obviously “under age” but managed to cast their vote.

“(There was) insufficient safeguards to reliably identify voters and prevent phantom/multiple voting. By not consistently using/checking indelible ink or demanding ID from voters, phantom and underage voting was facilitated,” group’s report showed.

ANFREL said that some members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) were observed “indicating their support for particular candidates and violating voters’ rights to cast their ballot in secrecy.”

The group also noticed that vote-buying was still rampant in ARMM while most BEIs, assistance and poll watchers in Maguindanao did not have accreditation cards. – With Christina Mendez