No separate storage for spoiled ballots —poll body

By Ayen Infante and Angie Rosales

11/04/2009

The poll body has junked the proposed separate storage for rejected ballots of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines, a proposal that was being pushed by the project management office (PMO) to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the members of the advisory council.

Ramon Casiple, a member of the Comelec advisory council, yesterday disclosed that his group had elevated the case to the Comelec en banc that in turn took the CAC sides, thus rejecting the PMO proposal.

“Aside from incurring additional expenses that are outside of the bud-get already, what would stop some people from taking advantage of the situation once the storage boxes (of rejected ballots) are opened and mixing up the genuine ballots from the rejected ones. We do not agree to that,” Casiple told reporters.

“The en banc, ultimately, agreed with us that the body will just make the ballot boxes smaller and these will only store the genuine ballots while the rejected ballots that will be rejected the second time will just be confiscated by the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs),”he explained.

According to Casiple they all agreed to shrink to a size of a beer case for the ballot boxes that will be used in next year’s election to make it easier to store.

In its proposal the PMO said the PCOS machines are set to accept both rejected and genuine ballots and will have separate storage compartments, although the latter are the only ones that will be read by the machine.

“Most probably, the rejected ballots will now be just placed in a separate envelope by the BEIs,” Casiple said.

Casiple, who is also the head of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform (IPER) added that the issue is just one of several issues that are being kept away from the CAC by the PMO.

He noted that compared to the bidding process which has been transparent, the CAC is now being left out and is now being shut out with regard to the project implementation of the automated election system (AES).

“After the bidding, which was transparent, all of a sudden the implementation has become a ‘black box.’ Our role has been diminished, if not eliminated. What is happening is that we are the ones chasing after these developments,” Casiple said.

Asked for the possible reason the CAC is being kept out of the discussions, Casiple said the PMO should be the one asked this question.

“But perhaps, that’s because we are outsiders. They (PMO) do not want us to be involved in their discussions,” Casiple stressed.

He said, however, that the CAC is hoping that things would turn around now that Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal heads the Steering Committee.

Members of the committee include six members of the CAC, composed of representatives from civil society groups and non-government organizations, Larrazabal, PMO Chairman and Comelec Executive Director Jose Tolentino and two other poll officials.

Meanwhile, in a bid to avoid any confusion brought about by the holidays this month, the Comelec has decided to extend the filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) by one more day.

Comelec chairman Jose Melo said the commissioners have agreed to extend the filing of the CoCs until 12 midnight of Dec. 1 in order to accommodate the candidates who plan to run in the May 2010 polls.

“Our deadline for the filing of application for candidacy is Nov. 30 which is a holiday. So from Nov. 20, we will be open for the filing of application of candidacy regardless of whether it is a Saturday or a holiday, including those holidays in the ARMM (Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao),” Melo told reporters in a news conference Tuesday.

Originally, the Comelec en banc set the filing of the CoC from Nov. 20 to Nov. 30. But since Nov. 30 is a holiday, the body decided to extend it to Dec. 1.

In the last 2004 presidential elections, nuisance candidates were first who filed their CoCs and the legitimate candidates filed their CoCs on the last day of the filling.

Since the May 2010 elections are national polls, the Commission expects a great number of candidates that will participate.

A total of 68,000 candidates ran in the May 2004 elections while some 46,000 aspirants filed their CoC in 2007.

In a related development, Chairman Melo admitted Tuesday that the capturing of biometrics has caused long lines in the registration of voters which ended yesterday.

“Probably, what contributed to the slowdown in the registration is the fact that biometrics were taken. The process was a little prolonged,” Melo said.

“It wasn’t like the past registrations. All that was needed was the application and that was approved fast. Today, your finger print has to be taken, your signature, picture. That’s why it is a longer process,”Melo explained.

But he said this would be very important in the future and the country will benefit from this biometrics system.

We have to pay a price for the new system,” added the Comelec chief. Marie Surbano

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