‘2013 polls worse than 2010’ – LENTE

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An election watchdog says the 2013 polls failed to comply with international standards

 

MANILA, Philippines – Viewing elections from a human rights perspective, an election watchdog said on Friday, May 17, that the 2013 polls were worse than the one held 3 years ago.

 

Citing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) said that “genuine democratic elections” must be inclusive, transparent, and characterized by accountability and public confidence.

 

“There were no genuine elections,” the group said of the 2013 elections, based on reports of voter disenfranchisement they gathered from volunteers nationwide.

 

Among the incidents cited were pre-shaded ballots, discrepancies in the voters’ list posted in precincts compared to the list of eligible registered voters, over-sized ballots that the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines couldn’t read, PCOS breakdown, and the low level of training of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs).

 

Credibility of results 

 

Wala ngang nagbago. Mas lumala pa (Nothing changed. It became worse),” said lawyer Kenjie Aman, national secretariat head of LENTE.

 

He added that the glitches in the process cast doubt on the credibility of the election results. “Paano tayo nakakasiguro na sila talaga yung panalo (How are we sure that the winning candidates really won)?” he asked, citing cases of flying voters and unread ballots.

 

“We expected more from the commission, from its partner institutions, and from the frontliners who could’ve handled the elections better,” the group’s statement read.

 

Aman, however, clarified that the commissioners should not be solely blamed. Most of the reports, he said, are mistakes that fell under election officers.

 

Incident reports

 

In San Juan, Ilocos Sur, LENTE received a report that a signal jammer was used during the polls on Monday, May 13.

 

In Masbate, unlawful electioneering was reportedly committed by one candidate who even entered the polling precinct to campaign. There were also reports that a certain poll watcher stayed beside the PCOS machine with the ballots in full sight, which violated the privacy of the voters.

 

In Makati, persons with disability (PWDs) struggled to vote as their precincts were in the 2nd level and 3rd level of the school building. BEIs reportedly refused to accommodate their request to transfer to a precinct located at the ground level.

 

In Region 2, there were PCOS machines with no seals. 

 

The most reported electoral offense were incidents of vote buying, while the least reported cases were those of election-related violence.

 

“Widespread commission of vote-buying is a clear danger sign of lack of accounatbility and impunity easily taken advantage of by election law violators,” said LENTE in a press statement.

 

No willing complainants

 

Aman also said they have in their custody material evidence of over 300 incidents of electoral offenses during the mid-term elections. LENTE executive director and lawyer Ona Caritos addded that these pieces of evidence would add up to a thousand if they include the ones gathered from 2010.

 

The election watchdog, however, said that no case can be filed in court unless there are willing complainants. According to Aman, the personality to file a complaint must have been an eyewitness to the commission of the crime or was victimized as a result.

 

“We do not have the personality to file a case,” said Aman, adding that one of their Mindanao volunteers who was to be a material witness in a case of illegal voting (hauling of unregistered voters to precincts) was assassinated when the volunteer went back to Mindanao. 

 

To encourage eyewitnesses to file official complaints, LENTE offers legal services pro bono for as long as the complainant has no partisan leanings. 

 

Caritos said that prosecution will send a strong message and create a chilling effect to the violators.

 

Recommendations

 

While successful prosecution of election offenders is hard to come by, LENTE said their incident reports should not go to waste as these are submitted to the election commission to be used as basis for electoral reforms.

 

Among the recommendations of LENTE to Comelec include: intensified training of BEIs, especially with regard to PWD-sensitivity, mandatory biometrics of all voters ensuring the integrity of the voters’ list to avoid cases of dagdag-bawas, tighter security of the PCOS machines, disclosure of all areas where the PCOS machines failed, and a source code review.

 

The group added they are hopeful about the 2016 elections, and that the recommendations could be implemented  within 3 years. – Rappler.com

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