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SHOPPING
malls and other similar places would serve as polling
centers in the future where voters can cast their votes
as easily as withdrawing cash from an automated teller
machine.
By
putting in place such satellite voting centers, Sen.
Richard Gordon, who was a guest in a recent forum in
Quezon City, said voters would no longer have to troop
to the provinces in order to vote.
“In the
future, one only has to go to the mall, find an
automated polling machine and cast his or her vote. The
idea is they can vote only once. If they do that in
another machine, they will immediately be barred from
voting again,” said Gordon, who was touted as the father
of automated elections.
Gordon
expressed confidence that the experience in the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) can be
replicated in the next elections.
The
automated elections in the ARMM were successful despite
the unstable security situation, inadequate
communication and transportation infrastructure, as well
as the prevalence of illiteracy and widespread poverty
in the region.
Gordon
further noted that despite the lack of time for massive
voter education, the voters in Maguindanao generally
described their voting experience as “easy and amazing,”
Gordon added.
Vince
Dizon, spokesman for Smartmatic-Sahi, the company which
provided the technology used in the ARMM polls, said the
success of the pilot test in Maguindanao proved that the
country is ready for full automation come 2010 and
beyond.
In the
ARMM automated elections, more than 2,000 teachers in
Maguindanao had firsthand experience in using the direct
recording electronic (DRE) machines in the voting and
counting process.
“It was
Senator Gordon’s efforts in the Joint Congressional
Oversight Committee on election automation that pushed
the Commission on Elections [Comelec] to ensure
automation of the ARMM elections. We owe it to him that
we were able to successfully pilot-test the technologies
in preparation for the 2010 national elections,” Dizon,
who was at the same forum, said.
Both
Gordon and Dizon agreed that automation would rid future
elections of fraud, cheating and vote-buying.
“We will
make sure that the Comelec will give ample time for the
training of voters’ next elections,” Gordon added.
Dizon
said the DRE machines are designed to be very
user-friendly and convenient to use regardless of age
and literacy level.
“With
DRE machines, counting is done automatically and
transmission can be done in minutes directly from the
precincts. This is the wave of the future, and the
voters of Maguindanao have proven that we are ready for
fast, clean and credible elections,” he added.
The
August 11 ARMM elections was clear evidence that
automated elections minimized polls cheating, the
election watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for
Responsible Voting (PPCRV) said.
PPCRV
board member Ric Rivera said the Comelec should work for
the full automation of elections in the 2010
presidential polls.
While
saying that the recent ARMM elections was successful,
Rivera could not declare that it was 100-percent
credible, however. “The process [automated election] was
successful, but we could not say that it was credible
enough as we have to hold first the postelection summit.
There are also reports of cheating, but we have to first
verify the data,” Rivera said.
He added
that the PPCRV has held talks with Gordon with the view
of amending the election law to allow the Comelec to
fully implement automated elections starting with the
2010 polls. (TJ Agcaoili) |
