Absentee voting by journalists to reveal media’s political preferences

Journalists on duty on election day will finally be able to participate in the event they are covering. But having a special voting process for media could also unintentionally reveal their political leanings as a group. The Commission on Elections announced Tuesday that it will draft a resolution that will enable media practitioners to cast their ballots as absentee voters one month ahead of the scheduled elections on May 10, 2010. However, it’s not yet clear whether granting the privilege to journalists will also need an act of Congress. “There has been a clamor among journalists na hindi makaboto (who cannot vote)," said Comelec commissioner Lucenito Tagle, who called a public hearing at the Comelec main office in Intramuros about the issue. Despite an invitation to at least two dozen media agencies, only a handful sent representatives, including GMA Network. None of those who attended voiced strong objections to the Comelec’s initiative, but some warned the election body about so-called journalists with questionable credentials. Although it would not be an objective, having a separate absentee voting process for media would enable the Comelec to count their ballots as a sector and determine their voting preferences as a group. “That would be a story," said Comelec spokesman James Jimenez. At present, only overseas Filipinos and government employees on election duty are entitled by law to cast absentee ballots, rendering journalists who cannot vote because of coverage assignments “disenfranchised", according to Jimenez. “If the law says that government officials performing public functions get the privilege to vote under the local absentee voting system," Commissioner Tagle said in his opening remarks, “why can’t journalists who perform a function so deeply invested with the public interest not be extended the same privilege?" Tagle explained that he will draft the resolution granting the absentee vote to journalists and present it at the en banc meeting of the commission next Tuesday. “What we are afraid of is this may need legislation," said Tagle. “We will discuss whether the resolution violates the Omnibus Election Code." There shouldn’t be any opposition in Congress, according to Rep. Teodoro Locsin, chair of the House committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms. “We should extend the utmost leeway to a sector of the population that is very small and easy to identify," he said at the hearing. A discussion ensued about who would constitute a “journalist". Locsin said the law would define this as “anyone working for media," including camera crews, engineers, and drivers, all of whom could also be assigned far from their voting precincts on election day. Benny Antiporda, the president of the National Press Club, urged the Comelec to be wary of any loopholes in the law that would allow non-bona fide journalists to abuse it and make the Comelec regret its decision. “Ang karapatan na ito ay sagrado," (This right is sacred.) Antiporda said. Jimenez said the Comelec is considering asking each media agency to submit a list of its personnel who will be on duty on election day so they can be registered for absentee voting. The Comelec would then assign a staff member from each media agency to take charge of distributing and collecting the ballots, and delivering these to the Comelec before election day for the general population.