Philippine elections
Philippine elections

#HalalanDayaan2019: Netizens raise concerns over perceived irregularities

Rappler.com

SUMMARY

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

#HalalanDayaan2019: Netizens raise concerns over perceived irregularities
Netizens are taking to social media to raise concerns over alleged cases of electoral fraud in different areas

MANILA, Philippines – As the whole country waits for the complete transmission of results, netizens are taking to social media to raise concerns over alleged cases of electoral fraud in different areas. 

It does not help that the 2019 midterm elections was fraught with transmission delays, technical glitches, and cases of election violations. 

A glitch that lasted 7 hours on Monday night caused the transparency server of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to stop sending results to media organizations, watchdogs, and political parties.

Comelec director Teopisto Elnas Jr explained that only the computer service generating the files for media and watchdog groups encountered technical problems. He said the transparency server continued to receive results from vote-counting machines across the country.

Poll watchdog group KontraDaya was critical of Comelec’s claim that the 2019 midterm elections was generally successful. “The assertion of Comelec Spokesperson Jimenez that there is no problem with the transparency server – since the data of election results comes in their servers – shows Comelec’s lack of commitment and responsibility to fulfill its mandate to the people,” the group said in a statement. 

While this was happening, netizens closely watching their votes are posting on social media about supposed inconsistencies in the counting of ballotss. They pushed the hashtag #HalalanDayaan2019 into one of the Philippine trending topics as of 8:45 am on Tuesday. 

In Barangay San Jose, Mandalayung City, for example, a netizen claimed his and his family’s votes for a senatorial candidate were unaccounted in the precinct’s tally. 


 

In some areas, some netizens claimed that the ballot receipts didn’t reflect how they voted. Many attributed perceived irregularities to the malfunctioning of many VCMs that happened early on Monday. In some areas, Comelec was quick to replace VCMs that encountered technical glitches. 




 

Netizens also staged a “Twitter rally” to post personal pledges against the supposedly widespread cheating. “Tutol kami sa malawakang pandarayang nagaganap ngayong eleksyon! I am against the extensive electoral fraud that is happening during this elections),” the pledges read.  

Below is a collection of the tweets MovePH, Rappler’s civic engagement arm, gathered as of 8 am: 


 

On Tuesday, May 14, group Youth Act Now is also organizing several mobilizations in the country to condemn the “cheating and attack against the people.” 

  • 11:30 am at the Gate 2 of University of Santo Tomas, España, Manila. 
  • 11:30 am at th AS Steps, UP Diliman, Quezon City
  • 11:30 AM at the UP DEPP Lobby in Pampanga
  • 1 pm at the city market in Angeles City, Pampanga
  • 12 pm at the Cebu Provincial Capitol
  • 1 pm at the East Weast Bank, Intramuros
  • 2 pm at Comelec in Manila City
  • 4 pm at the CAS Gate in UP Manila
  • 5 pm at the Gate 2.5 in the Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City
  • 5 pm at the Calamba Crossing, Laguna
  • 6pm in front of Balay Kanlaon in UP Visayas Miagao

– Rappler.com 

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!