Local, int'l groups wary over Comelec's lack of contingency plan

Less than two months before the May elections, local and international observer groups voiced concerns on Saturday over alleged delays in the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) pre-election preparations and the absence of a contingency plan should automation fail. The Quezon City-based Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) expressed dismay over Comelec’s lack of contingency plans amid questions on its readiness to administer nationwide automated polls. Likewise, the international group National Democratic Institute (NDI) agrees with CenPEG and urged the Comelec to get the contingency plan ready “without delay." Last Friday, the Comelec assured the public once again that it will aim for a hundred-percent automated elections. "We are trying our best and we will work for a 100-percent successful and credible elections. We're going for 100-percent automated elections," said Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal. With the four existing printers churning out 750,000 ballots in 24 hours and with 13,783,011 ballots printed as of March 11, a total of 47,533,011 ballots will have been printed by April 25, the deadline set by Comelec for ballot printing. Moreover, Larrazabal said that a fifth printer is being shipped to the country and will be operational on April 5 to complete the 50,723,734 ballots that need to be printed. But CenPEG pointed out that going fully automated is one thing and getting people to believe the authenticity of the results is another. “Even if full automation will push through, millions of voters will doubt the election results in the absence of safeguards against internal rigging and other types of fraud and with powerful fraud machineries still intact," CenPEG political analyst Bobby Tuazon said in a statement. In a media briefing in Makati City on Saturday, the NDI insisted that the Comelec must have a contingency plan, and that such should be published to achieve transparency in the planning process, which is needed to get public acceptance of the poll results. The NDI is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government. “The Comelec is required to furnish this plan to political parties and candidates as well as publish it in major newspapers. This has not yet been done. Release would bring greatly needed transparency to the planning process and has the potential to dispel rumors about the intentions of the Commission," an NDI statement said. It also encouraged the Comelec to expedite its clarifications on some instructions and issues on the automated system, saying that the delays in the issuance of its General Instructions have “led to speculation that the Comelec is unwilling to consider public opinion." “In particular, [Comelec] should address contingency planning, access to AES (Automated Election System) codes, ballot design, and election day procedures," former New Zealand National Party President Susanne Wood read from the NDI’s official statement. The group observed that the Comelec “has not bolstered public confidence in the new automated system," which it said is crucial in the acceptance of election results. “The more open the process, the more dialogue with the participants, the more confidence the people will have on the vote. Certainly, some of the frustration of Comelec is that it missed some of its deadlines. It was slow on some decisions and it hasn’t been as open as it could be, so again, whether the voters will feel more confident will be the real test of the elections," said NDI's Sam Gejdenson, former US house representative. Campaign expenses The NDI also emphasized on the need for the Comelec to make available online all information on campaign expenditures before the election “to begin filling a key gap in the public’s access to meaningful information about spending by candidates and political parties." It recommended that a random manual audit (RMA) must be done before the proclamation of election results, saying that “any other approach will undermine rather than bolster public confidence." “One precinct per congressional district sample for an RMA is inadequate..[We] recommend that the RMA be conducted prior to the proclamation of results," the NDI said. Under section 24 of RA 9369, RMA must be conducted in only one precinct per congressional district in each province or city to determine a difference in results between the automated and manual count. If such difference is found, a manual count will be done in the affected precinct. Comelec chairman Jose Melo earlier rejected the idea of conducting an RMA before the declaration of winners, saying that it will cause unnecessary delays. Despite the delays and perceived lack contingency plan, the NDI expressed optimism that the election will push through. “I think we can have good elections with or without automation. But certainly the automation in this system should make it easier to have a good election if all the rules are followed… It’s not the equipment and the country. It’s what each country does in each election and there certainly is a sophisticated political structure, citizenry, news media, and press in this country. If people do their job responsibly, then this should be a very good election. Everybody has to do their part," Gejdenson said. The NDI’s international delegation was composed of statesmen from the US, Ireland, and New Zealand, visited the country to observed and make recommendations on processes leading up to May elections. —LBG, GMANews.TV