Philippines

Articles about voting issues in the Republic of the Philippines.

Philippines: Cost of electoral reform in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao: P850M | Inquirer News

It would cost nearly a billion pesos to nullify the entire list of voters in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and replace it with a new one, the chair of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said. The expense, however, was necessary to end decades of electoral fraud in the region, said Comelec Chief Sixto Brillantes, a former election lawyer. Brillantes said it would cost P450 million if Comelec proceeded with regular registration of voters in the ARMM and at least P850 million if Comelec did away with the old registration process and instead nullified the region’s voters’ list and put in place a registration system using modern technology. He said, however, that trashing the existing voters’ list was a necessary first step toward electoral reform in the ARMM. Comelec, he said, would use a process of registration using biometrics, or technology that would keep track of voter identity through fingerprints or other unalterable marks. Read More

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Philippines: Comelec, DOJ take over investigation of 2004 poll fraud | The Philippine Star

The joint panel of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) will assume the lead in the investigation on the alleged cheating during the 2004 national elections. According to Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes, they have begun their fact-finding efforts on the alleged rigging of the 2004 polls, which primarily involved former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. “They (Senate) have not investigated this. They have discussed this twice and nothing happened so we are taking over on the fact-finding,” Brillantes said. Read More

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Philippines: Comelec advisors pick optical scan technology for 2013 Philippines elections | GMA News

The Comelec Advisory Council (CAC) has officially recommended to the country’s elections body the adoption of Optical Mark Reader (OMR) technology in the 2013 elections.In an exclusive interview with Louis Napoleon Casambre, executive director of the Information and Communications Technology Office (ICTO) and chair of the CAC, said the council has already sent two resolutions to the Comelec recommending the use of OMR technology. It is now up to the Comelec to decide whether or not it would adopt the recommendation of the CAC. If the poll body decides to stick with the CAC recommendation, its next step would be to pick the type of OMR technology that will be used in the elections. The country also used OMR technology, specifically PCOS (precinct count optical scan), in the 2010 national elections. Read More

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Philippines: Commission on Elections junks online voting for 2013 polls | The Philippine Star

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has junked its plan to use the Internet for the 2013 midterm elections, Comelec Commissioner Armando Velasco said yesterday. Velasco, chairman of the Committee on Overseas Absentee Voting (COAV), said, “2013 is near; it’s not feasible. The Internet registration and voting will not be available.” The Overseas Absentee Voting law provides that only ballots cast and mailed ballots received by the Philippine embassies, consulates and other Foreign Service establishments shall be counted. Read More

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Philippines: Recount of election returns of northern Cebu town to be held in Manila | Sun.Star

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has created a special Board of Canvassers (BOC) that will re-canvass the election returns of Compostela, Cebu for the positions of mayor, vice mayor and 10 municipal councilors.

Cebu Provincial Election Supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano said the new BOC is composed of Comelec lawyers who are based in Manila. Read More

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Philippines: Smartmatic’s participation in 2013 polls up to advisory council | The Philippine Star

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is leaving it to the Comelec Advisory Council (CAC) to decide if Smartmatic International Corp. can participate in the 2013 midterm polls. “If the CAC feels there are grounds to, say, recommend a different technology and they also have to come up with an explanation if they want to block out a certain bidder,” said Comelec spokesman James Jimenez.

Smartmatic is the Venezuelan company that supplied the 82,200 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines used in the May 2010 presidential election. Jimenez was reacting to the call of the poll watchdog Automated Election System Watch (AES Watch) to disqualify Smartmatic from the 2013 polls for the defects in the counting machines it supplied.

The Comelec had declared the election a success but AES and other election watchdogs cited the wrong configuration of the compact flash cards and the disabling of the built-in scanners and digital signature features of the machines. Read More

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Philippines: Comelec told to study options on PCOS machines | businessmirror.com

A senior member of the House of Representatives has called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to study its options on whether to lease the Precinct Optical Scan (PCOS) machines for the 2013 and 2016 elections or to just buy them, whichever is advantageous to the government in financing the elections.

Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro has filed House Resolution 1909, urging the House’s Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms to conduct an inquiry on the plans of the Comelec to lease new PCOS machines for the 2013 elections at a cost of P8 billion, instead of purchasing the same PCOS machines that were used during the 2010 elections for only P1.8 billion, taking into consideration the huge savings for government.

Rodriguez said the Comelec can purchase the PCOS machines for the 2013 and 2016 polls by paying the balance of 33 percent, or P1.8 billion, under its contract with Smartmatic, a private company which owns the PCOS machines. However, Rodriguez cautioned that if the Comelec would lease the machines from Smartmatic for the 2013 and 2016 elections, the government would spend P22 billion. Read More

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Philippines: Comelec, DOJ to resume probe on vote rigging in 2004 polls | The Philippine Star

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) joint panel will resume its investigation and find necessary evidence to pin down other personalities involved in rigging the results of the 2004 presidential elections.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes yesterday said the poll body and the DOJ will continue with the inquiry into the electoral fraud. “Tuloy-tuloy na ito dahil walang temporary restraining order. Lilipat na kami sa 2004 (The investigation will proceed since there is no TRO. We will shift now to the 2004 polls),” he said. Read More

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Philippines: Comelec techie asks Congress: Probe 2010 polls | Inquirer News

An official of the Commission on Elections on Thursday called on the House and Senate to convene the joint congressional oversight committee (JCOC) on poll automation to help the Comelec find the best voting technology for the 2013 midterm polls. Commissioner Augusto Lagman said the committee’s input was needed by the Comelec Advisory Council (CAC) which is mandated by law to evaluate and recommend the appropriate election automation technology to the poll agency.

“I think the committee should convene. It has not met since the 2010 elections. There should have been an assessment of those elections. This is important because we want to learn what lessons we can from the 2010 elections,” Lagman told reporters. Read More

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Philippines: Online voting for Pinoys abroad not yet possible | The Philippine Star

he National Citizen’s Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) believes that Internet voting for overseas Filipinos is not yet possible because the country is not equipped technologically. Namfrel senior operations associate Paolo Maligaya said there are other aspects of overseas absentee voting (OAV) that need to be modified to lure Filipinos abroad to register and vote.

“While it may be easy to say that all it takes to vote electronically is a computer and Internet connection, the country might not be equipped enough to handle Internet voting at this time,” Maligaya said. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is looking at adopting Internet voting for OAV to get more Filipinos abroad to vote in the 2013 mid-term polls. Read More

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