Civic groups raise awareness on automated voting

Manila: Several civic groups in the Philippines have come up with voluminous literature on how to guard ballots during the country's first automated elections on May 10, when more than 50 million voters will choose a president, vice-president, almost 300 lawmaker in the two-houses of Congress and more than 17,600 local government officials.

Filipinos nationwide still believe that the their (and Southeast Asia's) first automated polls are still vulnerable and open to cheating even if the new system should put an end to the so-called vote-padding and vote-shaving system that occurred when votes were counted manually in the past.

Dozens of groups have listed several ways to guard ballots, making Filipinos more pre-occupied about their fear of cheating even during automated elections. Here's a collation of their anti-cheating antidotes.

On May 10, go to assigned precinct and check listing of names before voting starts at seven in the morning. Be prepared and remain alert. Get ballot only from the Board of Electoral Inspector (BEI), not from anyone else. Sign the voters' list.

Vote properly

Fill up the eight-inch wide and 25-inch long ballot properly. Use special pen to shade totally (not minimally) the blank ovals alongside the names of your choice among 600 candidates seeking national and local posts, including party-lists.

Don't vote beyond 12 senators. Don't vote more than one party-list. Don't make additional markings, otherwise, the tally machine will reject your ballot. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will not provide extra ballots.

The Board of Electoral Inspector (BEI) at the precincts should scan ballots to show ultraviolet mark, as proof of the ballots' authenticity.

Insert ballot into the counting machine. In case of rejection, try inserting ballot four times. The BEI should explain the cause of rejection. After voting, your point-finger should marked with indelible ink. Voting ends at 6pm.

Poll-watch

Poll watchers who monitor 310,000 precincts or a cluster of 76,320 precincts nationwide must observe four important things: elections are held; poll precincts are not taken over by armed men; politicians have not brought in ballots to be read by the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machine; the PCOS machines are not stolen; the PCOS are counting votes properly.

Big businesses should have provided lighting systems for schools in the provinces that will be used as precincts. Poll watchers, including ordinary citizens, should bring candles and flashlights when they vote. People should watch over the entire process.

Reports from the start to the end of the electoral process should be encouraged. The media, citizens, non government organisations, civil societies, candidates, stake-holders should report irregularities to proper authorities.

Counting

Learn how votes are counted and canvassed. Votes tallied by the machines at the precincts are entered into the Certificate of Votes (COVs) and authenticated by the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI);

Copies of Election Returns (ERs) are transmitted electronically to the ruling party, the dominant opposition, an accredited watchdog such as the Church-based Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting the broadcast industry, and the municipal board of canvasser; ERs canvassed at the municipal, city, provincial levels, are entered in the Statement of Canvass and Certificate of Canvass. They are printed and transmitted electronically to the computers of the National Board of Canvassers.