6 days Ago By Michelle Abad
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rapplerAds.displayAd( "mobile-middle-1" );SINGAPORE – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday, April 14, clarified that the ballot code given to overseas voters after voting represents their entire ballot in the system, and that information about which candidates voters chose is encrypted to prevent vote-buying.Some voters reported that they were confused after receiving a code as a result of their vote lookup or verification.
A voter based in Singapore posted on Facebook about his experience on Sunday, April 13, worried that the code contained names of candidates he did not vote for.Sunday was the first day of the month-long period for overseas voters to cast their ballots, 1.2 million of them via the internet.
In an interview with Rappler at the Philippine embassy in Singapore on Monday, Comelec Office for Overseas Voting (OFOV) Director Ian Geonanga said the code is a plaintext version of the ballot itself. Scrolling from start to finish would show all of the candidates. The code is uniform among all overseas voters, which means everybody will receive the exact same code after voting.
Currently, there is no way to check through that code which candidates the voter chose, as that would be encrypted information.The Comelec said encrypting the data is also a way of preventing voters from taking screenshots of their accomplished ballots and posting them online, which is an election offense.“It’s the complete list of candidates for senators as well as party list.
They will not really see which candidates they voted for because it is encrypted. So, it is designed like that. Because if it’s physically seen by anyone, the sanctity or secrecy of the voting process will be compromised,” Geonanga said in a mix of English and Filipino.
The only way voters can check if the system picked up their choices accurately is via the confirmation page before casting the vote.The Facebook user, who posted his choices of candidates backed by former president Rodrigo Duterte, highlighted the parts of the code where the Makabayan bloc and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas bets are seen.
AuditableIn previous years, the Comelec gathered reports that vote-buying involved voters who shared photos of their ballots, especially in posts that conducted postal voting, to serve as a receipt of sorts.“What they do is after the ballot is cast, especially in postal voting, they take a picture of it. And then they send it to agents that are trying to buy votes.
And then that is the proof that they voted for the candidate. So that is what we want to prevent as well,” said Geonanga.window.
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displayAd( "mobile-middle-2" );Geonanga maintained that the ballots are auditable, and the Comelec will conduct its election verification process after the voting period ends on May 12. Observers, watchdogs, and the media will be invited.“We will test if the system has correctly counted all the votes, and the results will be made available to the public,” he said.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia also told reporters that the receipts can be generated by the system. “But these are with the posts, and will be generated after [closure] of voting.”“We understand why these are our compatriots’ concerns.
You can count on the Comelec to uphold our commitment to count all the votes correctly,” said Geonanga. – Rappler.com.
