POLL officials see local Filipinos as not ready to vote online.“When you speak of the Philippines, you actually have to distinguish at this stage, whether you do it (online voting) locally or you’re doing it overseas.
Filipino overseas, I think, are very ready for Internet voting but domestically, the local voters are still not that ready,” James Jimenez, spokesman of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), said in a sidelines of a conference on digital marketing news briefing on May 14.
Jimenez issued his statement amid views from information and communications technology experts and executives note that “technology consumption in the Philippines is at the cusp of inclusive growth in the Asia-Pacific region.”
Reports by The World Bank and the World Economic Forum have shown that Filipinos are among the most active digital users in the region, with up to 40 million of the 115 million mobile-device users connected to the Internet, ranging from Millennials, who are starting to dominate the local workforce, to underprivileged communities, who are starting to take advantage of affordable technological innovations, according to Intel Philippines Inc. Country Manager Calum Chisholm.
But, Jimenez said, Internet voting “requires a degree of trust.”
We haven’t reached that level yet, he added.
On the other hand, Filipinos “overseas will be ready for it but, locally, it might not gain that much acceptance yet. There are a lot of objections [to] this kind of plan,” Jimenez said, sans citing who are objecting to the proposal.
He added that one of the major things the Comelec takes into consideration is proxy voting, which “is not even allowed.” Having this kind of system of voting is prone to “stealing of PINs,” or Personal Identification Numbers.
“It will come from the same wellspring of an objection and push back [online voting] to the beginning.”
Still, Jimenez said, the Comelec has a proclivity for the online voting system as “this could make voting easier for the people.” Implementing it correctly is actually safer, more convenient and it can increase sign up. But, then again, the Comelec has to be realistic, he explained.
Right now, the plans are mostly revolving around overseas voting, according to Jimenez. We start there first and then allow success stories filter down and dispel fears on the system. And, then, the Comelec will be able to fully implement the system, Jimenez said.