First of a series
THE May 12 national midterm election is only a few days away, but the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has yet to assure us that it can hold a clean, honest, peaceful and credible election with independently verifiable results. A large multisectoral group, made up of more than 20 different organizations, staged an open demonstration in front of the Comelec headquarters at Plaza Roma in Intramuros Manila on Wednesday demanding timely electoral reform.
Three days earlier, in a press conference at the Pandesal Forum in Kamuning, Quezon City, leaders of the same group warned that unless the Comelec took decisive steps to address the threat of electoral fraud, the election could fail and lead to widespread political and social unrest.
The group, led by Brig. Gen. Eli Rio, electronics engineer and former undersecretary of the Department of Information and Communication Technology; former Comelec commissioner Augustu “Gus” Lagman; former Finex president Edwin Fernandez; former Biliran congressman Glenn Chong; and cybersecurity specialist Jay Jimenez, released two documents containing specific electoral recommendations which Comelec has until now completely set aside. We shall allow these documents to speak for themselves.
The first document dated April 24 is a “demand letter” signed by Edwin Fernandez in his capacity as chairman of the electoral reform committee of ANIM (Alyansa ng Nagkakaisang Mamamayan); Gen. Rio as vice chairman; Capt. Roberto Yap as ANIM lead convenor; and lawyer Alex Lacson as ANIM convenor. It is endorsed by 106 retired military and police officers — mostly former generals — and 31 members of faith-based organizations, business, professionals and civil society. Addressed to Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia and the six Comelec commissioners, it expressed “grave concern and disappointment at the Comelec’s decision to remove the opportunity of every voter to verify if the candidates he/she voted for are reflected in the QR (Quick Response) code issued to him/her after the voting.”
“As of today,” the letter said, “many OFWs in different countries who voted have noticed that their QR codes did not reflect the names of candidates they voted for. Worse, other candidates’ names they did not vote for were reflected in their QR codes. Naturally, those OFW voters became angry and highly suspicious of the election system.
Comelec Chairman Garcia explained that the system was programmed that way in order to protect the secrecy, sanctity and integrity of the votes. According to Chairman Garcia, the voter’s QR code will merely show the encrypted data, the different names of candidates, but will not reflect the names of candidates the voter voted for.
We find the explanation completely unacceptable, as it is highly questionable, doubtful, illogical, unbelievable and therefore highly suspicious.
The best way to protect the sanctity and integrity of the ballot is — not by keeping it totally secret, even from the voters themselves — but by transparency and especially by allowing voters to verify if their votes were reflected and counted.
The voter has the right to verify his/her vote, that is, to verify if the candidates he/she voted for are reflected and counted. This right is guaranteed under Republic Act (RA) 9369. You violated this right.
The voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) is also expressly required under RA 9369. You also violated this legal requirement.
In the 2016, 2019 and 2022 national elections, the voters were issued their respective electronic, or VVPAT, that showed the list of candidates they voted for. But you completely removed this feature under your present system.
Interestingly, you did not disclose to the public and the media that this was your plan all along for the election, until the overseas Filipino voters discovered it.
We demand for Comelec to act with urgency on the following:
1. To immediately suspend the online voting for overseas Filipinos and restore the VVPAT feature that reflects the actual vote of voters, with end-to-end vote verifiability.
2. If the above cannot be done, to allow manual counting at the precinct level, after the automated election procedure in the precinct has been completed, as mandated under Sec. 31, RA 9369.
3. To allow the taking of photos by the accredited poll watchers and watchdogs on the voter’s receipts or VVPAT.
4. To allow independent third-party audits by civil society representatives, election watchdogs and cybersecurity experts.
By appealing to the media for help and staging a march on Plaza Roma, ANIM and the other organizations apparently believe they could get Chairman Garcia and the other commissioners to listen. But what if they don’t? Will the election add to our current problems instead of helping provide a possible solution to them?
To be continued on May 12, 2025