TWO Catholic prelates expressed disappointment on Saturday at the decision of the Commission on Elections not to issue a voter’s receipt in the forthcoming election and raises more doubts about the credibility and legality of the automated election system.
But while Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles and Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo lamented the Comelec’s “bad decision,” the Legal Network for Truthful Elections said the onscreen verification of votes was the next best thing the poll body could do.
“It is clear that Comelec is breaking the law and depriving the people of their right to be assured their vote is counted,” Arguelles said on Saturday after the Comelec disapproved the Voter Verified Paper Trail security features but approved the onscreen verification feature in its stead.
“Together with the Chairman’s statement that there was no cheating in the 2010 and 2013 automated elections, the Comelec has clearly shown itself against the people,” Arguelles said.
Pabillo, chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Social Action, Justice and Peace of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said it was “a very bad decision of Comelec.”
But while Lente was really for the activation of the VVPAT, but onscreen verification would suffice if it were true that there was really no time to print the vote receipts.
“For us in Lente, the best option really is to enable the VVPAT but because the Comelec has decided not to use it, the next better option is to enable the onscreen verification,’’ Lente executive director Rona Ann Caritos said in a television interview.
“So really our position regarding VVPAT and the onscreen verification is accountability and transparency on the part of the machines, and the onscreen verification is a way for us voters to check whether the machine really counted our votes correctly,” she said.
However, there is still a pending petition before the Supreme Court asking the high court to order the Comelec to activate the vote receipt feature.
While Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said the poll body will encounter several set backs if the court decides in favor of the petition, he did not rule out the possibility it can still be done.
“In truth, it is very tight already. But we will cross that bridge if we get there,” Bautista said.