IBON survey: Filipinos doubtful of poll automation

Filipinos are becoming more doubtful whether automation will address the country's perennial problem of election fraud, a survey by a militant think tank showed. IBON Foundation said its survey of 1,495 Filipinos between Jan. 9 and 17 showed that of the 85.4 percent who were aware of election automation, 63.01 percent did not think it could prevent fraud. The level of doubt in January was higher than in late 2009, the survey showed. “Of the 85.4 percent respondents who [were] aware of the poll automation program, 63 percent believed that it will not solve fraud in the upcoming elections," IBON said on its Web site. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will implement poll automation nationwide for the first time in the 2010 national and local elections in a bid to minimize electoral fraud. The survey also showed the share of respondents who thought automation would not address electoral fraud increased from 56.5 percent in October 2009, IBON added. Figures released by IBON showed a slight drop in people’s awareness of the government’s automation program. The 85-percent awareness rate in January was slightly lower than 88 percent in IBON’s October 2009 survey. But the January 2010 awareness rate was higher than in a July 2009 survey, where only 79 percent claimed to be aware of poll automation. Asked if they thought poll automation would address the problem of electoral fraud, about two-thirds of the respondents in the January survey answered “No," compared with about half in the October 2009 survey. The share of those who answered yes did not change much at about a fifth, while another fifth said they did not know, slightly higher than in October. In the July 2009 survey, 57 percent said they believed automation will not solve poll fraud, while a fifth said it would. Another fifth was unsure. The January 2010 survey used a multi-stage probability sampling scheme and had a margin of error of ±3 percent. NPA, GMANews.TV