Migrante Scores Comelec Over Absentee Voting

Migrant workers expressed their disappointment when they saw that the ballot boxes were made of cardboard. There were instances when migrant workers decided not to vote because they concluded that their votes would be tampered with just the same.  

BY KIM NGABIT-QUITASOL
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat.com

In press conference in Baguio City held last April 29, Esther “Buhay” Bangcawayan of Migrante-Macau criticized the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the flaws in the conduct of absentee voting and the reported election irregularities abroad.

 “Kung sa Pilipinas steel boxes ang ballot box, natatamper, ito pa kaya, na cardboard lang?” (If in the Philippines, steel ballot boxes are tampered with, then all the more if the ballot boxes are made of cardboard), declared Bangcawayan. She added that when they registered their protest with the Comelec all they got was a simple assurance that the ballot boxes will be secured. 

Although Comelec provided security tapes with serial numbers to seal the cardboard ballot boxes and some poll watchers were asked to affix their signatures on some security tapes, Migrante still asserts that these boxes can easily be tampered with.

“Maliit na blade lang ang katapat” (The ballot boxes can easily be opened by small blades), said Sonia Miralles, Migrante-Metro Baguio chapter chairperson. She said she used to work at the Bureau of Customs and she had witnessed how “door-to-door” delivery boxes were easily opened and inconspicuously sealed again.    

In addition, reports from Migrante poll watchers revealed that thousands of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong were made to line up for hours just to cast their votes only to be told that their names were not in the list of voters. These voters, however, claimed that their names were listed in the Comelec website. Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia have the highest number of registered Filipino migrant voters.

Bangcawayan also disclosed that there were reported instances where some Special Board of Election Inspectors (SBEI) in these countries tried to influence voters.

The Migrante leader also said that Comelec reports regarding the number of officially registered overseas voters do not tally.  For example, she said that some Comelec reports indicated that there are 358,000 officially registered overseas voters while other reports came out with a figure of 351,000.

Based on Comelec data, out of the more than 300,000 absentee voters only 51,000 have cast their votes as of April 26. There are about 8 million Filipino migrant workers all over the world, including those undocumented.  But less than a million of them registered for absentee voting. Migrante put the blame on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Comelec for the poor information dissemination campaign.

Nevertheless, Bangcawayan still believes that the turn out of registered absentee voters was already significant considering that this is the first year when Filipino migrants are allowed to vote through the absentee-voting scheme. Posted by Bulatlat.com

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