Members of Kontra Daya troop to the office of the Commission on Elections Region 11 to submit their documented report during the final testing and sealing of the vote counting machines in Davao City. (Contributed photo by Kontra Daya)
DAVAO CITY – An election watchdog here said they are expecting massive voter disenfranchisement after they monitored the final testing and sealing of vote counting machines here Thursday, May 5.
Members of Kontra Daya Southern Mindanao region went to the office of the Commission on Elections Region 11 on Friday afternoon, May 6 to submit their report of their monitoring of the FTS in polling centers in Davao City.
Kim Gargar, convener of Kontra Daya said they monitored at least six schools which will serve as polling centers in Davao City yesterday and found “potential delaying factors which will lengthen the total voting time.”
Kontra Daya Southern Mindanao Region submit a 7-page document reporting their observations during the final testing and sealing of vote counting machines to the office of the Commission on Elections Region 11.
Kontra Daya monitored Cesario Villa Abrille Elementary School in Barangay 76-A and San Roque Central Elementary School, both in Poblacion District here; Maa National High School in Maa; Buhangin Central Elementary School in Barangay Buhangin, in Buhangin District; A.L. Navarro Central Elementary School in Barangay Lasang and Lt. C. Villafuerte Elementary School in Calinan District.
“The glitches in the operation, initiation and opening of the machines, including the paper jam all contribute to possible delays during the election day,” Gargar told Davao Today.
“The Comelec itself admitted that the implementation of the so-called voter receipt will entail additional four hours to the total voting time. This means that the 800 maximum voters to be accommodated for the 12-hour voting process will now need a total of 16 hours to complete the voting process,” said Kontra Daya in its report submitted to the office of the Comelec Region 11.
“So it is possible that the 6:00 am to 6:00 pm voting time on Monday will not be enough. Actually, it is already given that the voting time is not enough, the Comelec has already admitted it that if they will implement the printing of the vote receipt, the voting processed would be prolonged,” said Gargar.
Gargar said if there are 800 estimated voters in one precinct, only less than 600 will be accommodated.
The Supreme Court on March 17 announced that it has denied the appeal of the Comelec against issuing voting receipts.
BEI’s training ‘not enough’
Kontra Daya said they believe the training of teachers are not enough pointing at some Board of Election Inspectors who are not still familiar with the VCM.
“Not all of them were able to do hands-on during their trainings,” Kontra Daya noted.
During the FTS, Kontra Daya recorded paper jams in the thermal paper printer because of the wrong installation of thermal paper as what happened in Maa National High School.
The same incident was observed by Davao Today in a clustered precinct in Tacunan Elementary School.
A VCM power cord in the same school was also reported by Kontra Daya as unplugged without performing the proper shut down of the machine.
The group reported that there were BEIs who are “not confident” to touch the screen and “are afraid to encode their pin”.
Kontra Daya said that the BEIs were able to resolve the glitches only after a trial and error procedure.
Incomplete supplies, materials
In Cesario Villa Abrille Elementary School, where there are 27 clustered precincts, Kontra Daya noted that there are no ballot boxes in all the clustered precincts.
In A.L Navarro Central Elementary School, Kontra Daya said there are “some packages or VCM (boxes) (that) are not complete.” The group noted that there was no broadband in Mapula Elementary School.
Comelec 11 to verify complaints
Comelec 11 Election Assistant II Sittie Rahma Pantalan said they will verify the complaints to the concerned elections officers.
“We will verify all the complaints in the concerned provincial office or election officers,” she said.
However, Pantalan maintained that the FTS in the region yesterday was “smooth-sailing”. (davaotoday.com)
