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OBSERVATIONS ON THE AUGUST 11, 2008 ARMM AUTOMATED ELECTIONS
By the Policy Study, Publication,
and Advocacy
Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG)
September 9, 2008
These observations are based on
CenPEG’s study of the recent automated ARMM elections including
independent field monitoring by a CenPEG team during the elections.
Other sources of these observations are: Members of BEI, Comelec
chair of provincial board of canvassers (PBOC), Lente lawyer-volunteers,
election fraud “operators”, multiple/flying voters,
and election watchers.
Observations:
-
In the first place, the choice of the ARMM (Basilan, Tawi-Tawi,
Shariff Kabunsuan, Sulu, Maguindanao, and Lanao del Sur) as the
area for testing automated elections when the region has been
the subject of investigations for widespread fraud in recent elections
particularly in 2004 and 2007 was highly irregular and warrants
an explanation. As expected, the transport, installation, and
operation of the automation equipment were constrained by travel
difficulties, electrical supply limitations, and other assorted
problems.
- The announcement by the Comelec
that the recent election in ARMM was “clean and honest”
is both premature and ill-advised, for the following reasons:
- In
at least 5 precincts of Marawi, Lanao del Sur, counting did
not start on time as of 5:30 p.m. on August 11;
- At
the provincial gym of Marawi City where provincial canvassing
was held for the province of Lanao del Sur, as of 11 a.m., August
12, at least 12 machines allotted for District 1 (1 automated
machine = 1 computer, 1 scanner, 2 printers) were defective,
i.e., inoperative, slow, erratic, or could not print; there
were only 4 technicians assigned for one district; over-all
impact - the automation could not generate canvassed municipal
votes on time;
- In
14 cubicles, machines could not canvass due to delayed ERs;
- Despite
supposed orientations/trainings, many machine operators could
not efficiently operate or were unfamiliar with the technology;
thus they had to rely on the few technicians on the scene for
intervention;
- At
the table for provincial board of canvassers, lawyer-watchers
of candidates, members of the board of canvassers, including
media reports were idle and had to wait for hours or even days
after election. In fact after 5 days, the provincial canvassing
remained incomplete;
- Why
ERs were delayed: Among other reasons, there were security problems
in remote, interior precincts (fear among voters, ballots could
not transport especially at night; there were reports of ballot
snatching or switching). So that as of 9:45 a.m., August 12
only three towns of Lanao del Sur (Wao, Bumbaran, Madamba) had
concluded canvassing;
- In
many automation machines, many ERs were invalidated: Machines
could not process 100 ERs fed simultaneously, and technical
intervention was delayed for lack of technicians.
The
use of automated machines seemed to project the illusion that elections
would be “clean and honest.” It was not in the case
of the ARMM elections. Many fraud cases attendant to the elections
happened days before and during election, based on the following
observations:
- Rampant
vote buying by candidates’ operators, with votes bought
at P50-P150 advanced money, and a balance of P50-P150 more upon
validation;
- Multiple
voting: This was especially made possible by the absence of legitimate
voters based in the NCR as well as OFWs. There were cases of voters
voting thrice and even four times. Both multiple/flying voters
were facilitated by the so-called culture of “maratabat”
(or “word of honor” among relatives and friends who
would be humiliated if not allowed entry to voting booths; multiple
voters and election inspectors and Comelec officials were relatives).
Multiple voting is a career in ARMM, with many young operators
and multiple voters engaged in this practice since previous elections;
- Cases
of underage voters (one “operator” even introduced
a 14-year-old who voted several times);
- Thumb
marks using indelible ink were easily erased by the use of vehicle
battery solutions;
- Lente
volunteers narrated accounts of ballot snatching in some precincts
of Lanao del Sur;
- Herding
of voters before election, with one operator assigned to a quota
of 100 voters who were forced to vote for the former’s candidate/s
through bribery and other means.
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