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Comelec urged to teach about automated polls via the 'lotto way'


Filipinos clueless on how to vote electronically in the 2010 polls can learn about the process if it will be explained in gambling terms. Nacionalista Party spokesperson Gilbert Remulla said the Commission on Elections could help voters understand the mechanics of the automated elections if the poll body would use instructions similar to that of playing lotto. “Just like shading numbers to bet on, shading the proper circle beside the candidate’s name will ensure their votes will be counted. This will ensure a common understanding of the voting process," he said. Remulla said the Comelec would be able save time in its poll education campaign if voters would be taught of the process through the "lotto method." Five months before the conduct of the country’s first nationwide automated elections, six out of 10 voters still have little to no knowledge at all about the polls, according to a survey conducted by Pulse Asia. [See: 6 of 10 Pinoys remain clueless about automation – Pulse Asia] Nonetheless, the Comelec remains optimistic that it will be able to educate the voters before the elections. [See: Comelec: Low voter awareness ‘expected’] For his part, former President Joseph Estrada said the Comelec should just limit the areas that would have poll automation to two cities in Luzon, two cities in the Visayas and two cities in Mindanao. “That way, in case of a failure of elections due to the lack of information and education on the machines, the failure will be confined only to these cities," he said in a press statement. In the same statement, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, Estrada’s running mate, expressed hope that the survey result would serve as a wake up call for the poll body. He urged the Comelec to intensify its voters' education campaign. “Hopefully, they will now see the urgency of holding an intensive voters’ education campaign on how to use the counting machines," he said. Vice presidential bets Senators Manuel Roxas II and Loren Legarda expressed the same sentiments. “The survey underscores the need for massive information campaign," Roxas said in a text message to GMANews.TV Legarda said the Comelec should be effective in educating and informing the voters so as not to disenfranchise electorates from class D and E sectors of society. Senator Francis Escudero, co-chairman of the congressional oversight committee on poll automation, dared the poll body to give a full update on the progress of the implementation of full automation of the 2010 polls. “Except for the occasional press release and sound bite, we have not heard the Comelec provide a complete picture of where we are now insofar as this historic undertaking is concerned," he said. He added that had the survey did not come out, the Comelec would not have bothered to tell about their plan to launch a massive information drive. “If the Comelec can’t even conduct an effective information campaign on the system, what more a full automation of the elections?" said Escudero Meanwhile, Sen. Richard Gordon said it is now the media's turn to educate the voting public. "The media has the social role in getting the message out. It is still possible to inform the people. We still have five months to go," he said. - JHU, ARCS, GMANews.TV

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