‘Disenfranchisement’: Overseas Filipinos bare online voting mishaps

MANILA, Philippines — As the Commission on Elections (Comelec) launched overseas internet voting for the first time, many expressed their dismay over the new voting system, calling it a “disenfranchisement” for overseas Filipino voters.

In an online press conference by volunteer poll watchdog Kontra Daya on Wednesday, several Filipinos abroad raised concerns such as lack of online voting awareness, lack of consultation among overseas electorates, transparency, and technical issues, among others.

“Tinitignan po natin ito na isa sa pinakamalalang disenfranchisement sa kasaysayan ng overseas voting ang bagong sistema ng online voting mula sa kawalan ng aktibong konsultasyon sa komunidad, sa kawalan ng massive information dissemination at training,” Lai Besana from Bayan Muna Hong Kong shared in the press conference.

(We consider the new system of online voting as one of the worst disenfranchisement in the history of overseas voting due to lack of active consultation in the community, lack of massive information dissemination and training.)

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Besana said that the consulate is dependent on Facebook postings, instead of rolling out massive voter information such as election updates and advisories. Besana added that this resulted in many Filipinos abroad unaware of the introduction of the new voting system.

Besana also said that the pre-enrollment period as a requirement to vote raises many technical concerns such as error in pre-enrollment links and delayed verification of ID and face recognition.

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Every registered Filipino abroad is required to participate in the pre-enrollment period where their identity will be verified and they will be given a code to access their voting. The period will run from March 20 to May 7.

Besana also said that there is a lack of transparency where the Comelec does not release the voter turnout. She added that the lack of receipt after voting adds to suspicion whether their real votes are cast or not.

“Dahil sa usaping ito, maraming kababayan natin ang nag-express na nawalan na ng gana bumoto. Ito ay para sa nakakaalam lang eh paano yung mga ’di nakakaalam?” Besana added.

(Because of these, many Filipinos have expressed unwillingness to vote. This is only dedicated for those who are aware, but what about those who are not?)

Bosana emphasized that full understanding in the system is important to gain trust in the whole electoral process.

An overseas Filipino worker previously aired his grievance over the online voting where he posted a screenshot of the ballots he cast showing that he voted for 12 senators, 10 from the PDP-Laban slate, as well as Imee Marcos and Camille Villar. But he was surprised and disappointed to know that the QR code he scanned to verify his votes showed names of candidates he did not vote for.

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia earlier assured overseas voters that their votes were not compromised, emphasizing that the combination of random letters and numbers, and even names of candidates they did not vote for was a security feature to prevent the ballot from being used in vote-buying, and selling.

The same concerns were echoed by Chris Sorio from Migrante Canada where he said that disenfranchisement was mirrored by three factors: lack of awareness on the online voting; error in voting process; and the May 7 deadline for pre-enrolment period.

Sorio also called on the Comelec to extend the deadline for pre-enrolment period from May 7 to May 11.

“Sana po ay mabigyang pansin ito dahil kung ito ay hindi magkakaroon ng extension, maraming botante ang hindi makakaboto,” Sorio said in the same press conference.

(We hope that this will shed light because if there will be no extension, many voters will not be able to vote.)

Kontra Daya convenor Danilo Arao urged the poll body to resolve the concerns “to prevent more votes from being disenfranchised” emphasizing if the issues remain unsolved, “these will only lead to bigger problems and increase risk of election fraud.”

Meanwhile, Garcia said that the extension of the deadline might be considered by the poll body but also reminded the voters to not wait for the deadline to pre-enrol and vote.

He also said that releasing voter turnout is prohibited under Section 205 of the Omnibus Election Code.

“Kahit sa ordinaryong botohan, bawal tanungin si teacher kung ilan na ang nakaboto, ilan pa ang hindi nakakaboto?” Garcia said in an interview with reporters on Wednesday.

(Even in the normal elections, you cannot ask a teacher how many have cast their votes.)

He added that voter education and voter awareness is a shared responsibility of the poll body and embassies and consulates.

“When it comes to the voter education, ’yung pagpapalaganap ng impormasyon, lahat ’yan ’yung mga posts po natin ’yung naatasan pong gawin ’yan kasi po syempre sila po yung may connect sa ating mga OFWs, sa mga Filipino community,” Garcia noted.

(When it comes to voter education, information dissemination, the posts are tasked with these responsibilities because they are the ones who are connected to our OFWs, and the Filipino community.)