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ZAMBOANGA
CITY—The
Commission on Elections (Comelec) has adopted safety
nets to prevent voters from voting more than once in the
coming elections.
James
Jimenez, Comelec information officer, said among the
safety nets are the use of a new kind of indelible ink
and the issuance of the certified voters’ lists on
election day.
Jimenez
said the new kind of indelible ink could not be removed
easily, unlike the ones used in previous political
exercises.
Jimenez
said the new indelible ink has two components and would
last on the voter’s forefinger for at least a week or
two.
“It
superimposes on the skin. It could not be removed easily
and would discolor the cuticle,” he said.
He said
the indelible ink was produced for the exclusive use of
the Comelec.
The use
of indelible ink will be reinforced by the use of the
election-day certified voter’s list, Jimenez said.
The
EDCVL, meanwhile, shows the picture of the voter and
would be used on election day by the Boards of Election
Inspectors (BEIs) in identifying those who go to polling
places to vote.
Jimenez
said cases will be filed against voters who will be
caught trying or having voted more than once.
Party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran of Anakpawis meanwhile
said that the 219 foreign observers from 12 countries
set to arrive in the country to monitor the midterm
elections will without doubt be appalled by the violence
of the supposedly democratic process as practiced in the
Philippines.
“They’re
in for the shock of their lives. Since 2004, elections
in the Philippines have become even more barbaric and
violent, and prone to fraud. The so-called democratic
exercise of elections in the
Philippines
is a battle fought with guns, goons and gold,” Beltran
said.
He
predicted that “like the other foreign visitors from the
diplomatic and human-rights community who came to the
country to investigate the spate of extrajudicial
killings, the 219 foreign observers of the May 14 polls
will also be shocked, appalled and then outraged.”
National
Police figures indicate that 50 politicians and
candidates have been killed in this year’s election
compared to 41 politicians and candidates killed in the
same period in the May 2004 elections. Ninety-five
people have been killed and 92 others wounded in 131
election-related violent incidents recorded since the
election period started on January 14.
Team
Unity senatorial candidate Mike Defensor has challenged
the Comelec and leading media entities to put up online
galleries where voters may upload photos of possible
election-related irregularities on May 14.
“Many
voters now have camera phones with the ability to use
the Internet to instantly send photos, either through
electronic mail or multimedia messaging service, for
posting to a web site,” Defensor pointed out.
“The use
of this new technology should be enlivened to help
document and discourage election-related anomalies,”
Defensor said.
He noted
that leading newspapers, television networks and other
media organizations have already dedicated web sites
exclusively for their coverage of the elections.
“Surely
they can devote portions of these web sites to
accommodate contributed photographs sent online,”
Defensor said.
He made
the statement shortly after the Comelec clarified that
contrary to prior reports, it has not banned mobile
telephones from polling stations on Monday.
The poll
regulator, however, stressed that voters should not use
their phones to take photos of their finished ballots,
since this is prohibited.
The
activist group TxtPower had said its members would be
bringing their mobile telephones to polling precincts to
record possible acts of cheating.
The
National Police and the multisectoral Philippine
Election Forum also earlier urged the Comelec to
purposely arm public school teachers with camera phones
and portable video recorders to help them chronicle
incidents of fraud. |
