Is The Philippines Ready for an Automated Election System?
The computerized or automated election in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) scheduled on August 11, 2008 is being threatened by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). On the other hand, this article is not about politics in the Philippines. This is about the computerization of the Philippine election system.
Are Filipinos ready for automation? Let me give you some facts about the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) then give your thoughts if the Philippines is ready for an automated election system (AES) as mandated by law (RA 9369 – Automated Election Law):
- The 2003 functional literacy survey of the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed ARMM as having the lowest basic literacy rate in the country, with 30 percent of its people aged 10-64 years old considered illiterate.
- On a national level, one in 10 Filipinos can not read and write, according to the survey.
- Ustadz Esmael Ibrahim of the Assembly of Darul Ifta of the Philippines said illiteracy in the ARMM is worst in Sulu, with 40 percent of its people unlearned.
In addition, according to reports, two voting technologies will be used in the ARMM elections – Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) in Maguindanao, and Optical Mark Reader (OMR) in Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi. More than 3,000 DRE machines and 156 OMR counting machines will be delivered to ARMM.
According to Comelec, “DRE uses electronic ballot, records votes by means of a ballot display provided with mechanical or electro optical components that can be activated by the voter, processes data by means of a computer program, records voting data and ballot images, and transmits voting results electronically.”
The automated ARMM election is a pretest to the 2010 Presidential elections in the Philippines. If this test succeeds, then for sure the Automated Election System will be used. If not, then maybe the Philippine government will consider going back to the “control” method which is the conventional election most Filipinos are used to or improve any weaknesses that will be identified in the implementation of the computerized election process.
This brings to mind the question, “How reliable can the computerized (automated) election system be?” knowing that anything electronic is much easier to falsify. Will the election finally put an end to the “dagdag-bawas” dilemma in our nation’s election results? Or, will the automation process make it much easier to fake election returns? Is the software in the machines in the automated election properly tested and proven bug-free? That we will find out after the ARMM elections. Let the “trial-and-error” in our election process begin on August 11, 2008. 
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Tags: automated election, automated polls, automation in the election process, computerized election in the Philippines, personal, Philippines
Ay ewan! Tingnan nalang natin..Kakapagod ang election issue ng ating Inang Bayan.
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jessie reply on August 7th, 2008:
Fren,
Oo nga eh, let’s see what happens after the ARMM elections. Sana magclick yung automated elections natin.
jessie’s last blog post..I Need More Money to Buy a New Car
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Bebe,
kung ganyan pala ang sitwasyon ng literacy sa Mindanaw..patunay lang yan na kahit kailan malabong magplano ang gobyerno.
manilenya’s last blog post..The Return of the Come back!
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jessie reply on August 7th, 2008:
Bebe,
Korak! Yang automated elections na yan eh trial-and-error lang sa tingin ko talaga. Sana lang wag error ang outcome.
jessie’s last blog post..Philippine Politics Goes Online: Politicians Join Social Networks
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hmmm…ang hirap naman mgcomment dito na post na eto kuya.. hehehe..
well, tingnan natin kung ready na nga ba ang ating mahal na pinas sa automated election system. sana nga eh makaranas na tayo ng clean and honest election.. gooluck!!
twinks’s last blog post..I fancy stylish prescription eyeglasses
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jessie reply on August 7th, 2008:
Twinks,
I know maraming reluctant magsalita about the Automated Election Law and its implementation pero sa experiences natin sa mga elections eh parang malabo yang automated process na yan. Opinion ko lang ha.
jessie’s last blog post..If You Love Your Bathroom That Much
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Naku! patay na tayo lalo nyan! Siguradong mas mapapadali na ang dayaan! Ang mga pinoy pa?
haaay..
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jessie reply on August 7th, 2008:
Jo,
Sinabi mo pa. Tumpak! Pag automated ang election, malamang automated din ang dayaan. Kelan pa nawala ang dayaan dito sa tin eh mula nang magka-eleksyon yata sa Pilipinas puro dayaan ang nangyari.
jessie’s last blog post..Fulcrum BioEnergy to Build Ethanol Plant and Make Use of Garbage as Source of Renewable Fuels
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Kuya,
I am still hoping for the best despite all the threats posed in the coming ARMM elections. I am keeping my fingers crossed…
Lainy’s last blog post..The Voice of a COMELEC Employee: On ARMM Automated Elections 2008
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Ellaine,
I hope too that the ARMM elections will be a succesful and peaceful event. I’ve seen on TV how difficult it was for men and women who helped in transporting the machines to be used in the automated election in the ARMM. I just pray that those people’s efforts and sacrifices just to get the machines to their destinations will pay off after the elections.
jessie’s last blog post..Philippine Politics Goes Online: Politicians Join Social Networks
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Literacy aside, automated or manual, I think won’t make any difference.
Either way, I’m pretty sure marami pa ring dayaan.
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jessie reply on August 9th, 2008:
Shiera,
That’s what I fear as a concerned Filipino. Whether the Philippines implement an automated election is not the point in question. Automation of the election process in the Philippines is simply a way to show that we have upgraded our gears. The question is, “Have we changed our culture in politics?”
Well, this time, the ballots are not the things to be protected but voting machines in the automated election. I hope the ARMM election won’t be a bloody one.
jessie’s last blog post..Philippine Politics Goes Online: Politicians Join Social Networks
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really i hope so sana nga magkaroon na ng computerized election this coming election 2010….
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[...] The automated ARMM elections which included Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Maguindanao are over and official election results are expected to come out on August 12 or 13. As promised, I will update readers on the ARMM elections in relation to my previous article “Is The Philippines Ready for an Automated Election?”. [...]