Massive disenfranchisement feared due to poll foul-ups

It was supposed to be Arianne Enverga’s first time to vote on Monday, along with 50 million other Filipinos who are casting their votes in the country’s first nationwide automated elections. Skipping breakfast to arrive early at the polling center in Las Piñas City, Enverga lined up for three hours to check her name on the voters’ list. “To my horror, my name wasn’t on the list. In fact, I wasn’t on any list. Many have assisted me, but they have no answers as [to why] my name wasn’t really listed," she told GMANews.TV via YouScoop. Addressing the Commission on Elections, she added, “If your work is done properly, no one would have endured what I have experienced." Philippine Basketball Association coach Chot Reyes of Talk ‘N’ Text also failed to cast his ballot because his name was missing on the voters’ lists at the Miriam College precincts in Quezon City. “A print-out coming from the official website of the Comelec confirmed my name as an active voter, only to find out my name is not listed anywhere," Reyes posted on his Twitter account. “I was voting in the same precinct ever since and I’ve never missed a presidential election yet," he added. In the three decades that he has been voting there, this was the first time that he was unable to vote, Reyes said. Enverga and Reyes are only two of the voters nationwide who have complained of disenfranchisement and other irregularities in Monday’s elections. Many voters complained of waiting in the heat for several hours before they were able to cast their ballots. In Davao del Sur, Gest Bureros told GMANews.TV via YouScoop that voting was reduced to a trickle due to lack of seats and voting booths. “At the precinct where I was assigned, there is an average of 40 voters per hour. With only twelve hours allotted for the elections, only 480 would be able to vote," he said. There are about 1,000 voters per clustered precinct. In Masbate, volunteers took it upon themselves to help cut long lines. GMA News’ Joseph Morong reported that volunteers used their own laptops to help voters find their precincts. The data are available online and are provided by the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV). In another precinct in Cavite, however, GMA News' Lia Mañalac reported that a PPCRV volunteer meddled with the election process and fed a voter's ballot into the PCOS machine on behalf of the voter. The Comelec has extended the voting hours up to 7 p.m. to accommodate the expected huge voter turnout in many precincts. On Sunday, Comelec commissioner Rene Sarmiento said they are expecting an 85 percent voter turnout, but Comelec chair Jose Melo said a 50 percent turnout would be satisfactory. The number of voters continued to build up at the Kapitan Moi High School in Marikina Heights, which has more than 16,000 voters, by Monday afternoon. Technical glitches delayed the voting process at the Pembo Elementary School in Makati City when a PCOS machine malfunctioned due to a paper jam. In Southern Leyte, 35 automation machines were reported to have malfunctioned as well. In Indanan town in Sulu, GMA News and Public Affairs’ Eli del Rosario reported that a PCOS machine was destroyed. One precinct was also closed due to tension among local candidates. Roan Libarios of the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) told GMANews.TV in a phone interview that rains and long queues delayed voting in Mindanao and discouraged many voters from exercising their right to suffrage. In a news conference, he said reports from 3,000 lawyers and para-legal assistants across the country who are members of LENTE indicated widespread disenfranchisement due to delays and malfunctioning PCOS machines. "Mahaba ang pila, mabagal ang pagboto dahil na rin sa malfunction ng PCOS kaya tumagal ang voting procedure," Libarios said. "Yung mga voters, napagod na maghintay, nagutom na sa linya kaya umuwi na." Failure of elections Meanwhile, Comelec field personnel have recommended the declaration of failure of elections in 11 municipalities in the Visayas and Mindanao due to various reasons, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez told a press briefing Monday. Among them are the towns of Masiu, Lumba-Bayabao, Lumba-Unayan and Tubaran in Lanao del Sur where members of the board of election inspectors (BEI) failed to show up, he said. Libarios of Lente said the election inspectors in Lanao del Sur could have failed to show up due to threats from local candidates. Lanao del Sur is among the five provinces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which has been placed under Comelec control due to serious armed threats and the presence of paramilitary forces threatening to mount violence or commit election fraud. Three other towns in Lanao del Sur—Marogong, Bayang and Sultan Dumalondong— were also recommended for the declaration of poll failure due to still unknown reasons. Total failure of elections has also been recommended in the municipalities of Albarca and Sumisip in Basilan due to “open hostilities" in these areas, and in the towns of Guimbal in Iloilo and Pagsanjan in Samar after ballots were “inadvertently switched" there, Jimenez said. Fraud plots? Meanwhile, poll watchdog Compact for Peaceful and Democratic Elections (Compact) reported alleged poll irregularities in Maguindanao towns. A statement from Compact said its international observers noticed that polling stations at Parang, Barera, and Buldon towns did not use indelible inks on voters. Under-aged voters were also allowed to vote, while unauthorized people were seen holding bunches of ballots and operating PCOS machines. At the Datu Luminog Pilot Elementary School in Buluan town, several PCOS machines malfunctioned and used ballots were piled on top of ballot boxes, said Compact. Only two election inspectors manned the polling center and did not have proper identification. The voters' list could also be tampered because it was found tattered, the group added. Compact said voters were allowed to cast their votes even if they were not on official voters' lists. Compact's international observers came from the following countries: Indonesia, Sweden, Finland, Burma, the United States, among others. Maguindanao province was the site of the November 23 carnage -- said to be the worst politically-motivated violence in the Philippines -- that killed 57 people, including 32 journalists. —with Rey Joble and Andreo Calonzo/YA, GMANews.TV