An ongoing voters’ registration in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanano being conducted by  the Commission on Elections had a lot of minors registering as voters, despite the fact that they were clearly minors but were not being stopped by the ARMM registration officers, nor, for that matter, by the Comelec chairman, Sixto Brillantes Jr.
While Brillantes confirmed that a big number of minors signed up as voters on the first two days of a general registration of voters in ARMM, he didn’t seem to be doing anything  to put a stop to this clear anomalous practice that would end up again with the poll body having a bloated voters’ list filled up with not only flying voters but also minor voters.
This development will naturally bring about a fraudulent election count — not only for ARMM candidates but even candidates on the national scale, such as the senatorial candidates.
The poll chief appeared to even be amused at this irregularity which he has done nothing by way of preventing it. Brillantes was quoted as saying that minors as young as 14 had shown up at various precincts and filled out voter registration forms.
“I visited several registration centers. In two centers in Simunul, I saw registrants who did not even look like they were 18 already. They told me they were 22. I joked that the people of Simunul look way younger than their actual ages because they look 14 to me,” he said.
He jokes about this highly irregular practice that is not being stopped at all by the poll chief, nor, for that matter, is it being stopped at all by the Comelec registrars on duty?
From reports, Brillantes even said that he had instructed the Comelec personnel manning the registration centers to just accept the illegal registrants anyway, as he claimed this would save them time from questioning or arguing with these illegal voters.
Said Brilantes: “They (Comelec registrars)  should accept the forms and issue a receipt. We have a scheme to disqualify them later.”
Really? How so, when the forms, filled with false information, are officially accepted and these illegal registrants/voters are issued receipts?
Brillantes spoke of a scheme to disqualify these registrants, without elaborating on the claimed scheme, although the report also said that biometrics would help in weeding out unqualified registrants.
Unbelievable, coming as it does from the poll chief himself. The illegal registrants have filled up the form with false information, ostensibly had their fingerprints taken as well, and they were officially issued receipts.
How can they be caught, if their fingerprints match those in the Comelec files? Since there were no questions asked of these illegal voters by the Comelec officers, as instructed by their chief, Brillantes, it can be assumed that they would be given their voters’ IDs, or short of that, their official receipts can be shown to prove that they are registered voters.
Biometrics serve the purpose of knowing whether the voter is the same person voting, done through matched fingerprints. It doesn’t say whether the voter is underaged or eligible to vote.
As it was in the past, the poll registrars manning the election booths, always allow these illegal voters to vote anyway.
Brillantes blamed it on the culture existing in the ARMM, where he said barangay leaders bring in these voters, thus playing an active role in this type of fraud, although he added that the same officials have already been warned.
Obviously, if they were really warned, that warning went unheeded and Brillantes does not appear to be doing anything to put a stop to this fraud, and the practice of illegal registrants and voters in the ARMM.
It was claimed that some 1.7 million ARMM voters were cancelled from the old list, with Brillantes saying the ARMM list was really bloated.
So 1.7 million ARMM voters were delisted, but obviously, new voters — mostly illegal would fill up that number.
Maybe this re-registration is all about who will benefit from the new fraudulent voters, that are not being stopped by Noynoy’s poll chief. It is usual that the administration always benefits from election fraud.
It used to be the Arroyo administration, now it is Aquino and his Liberals.