The watchdogs learn new tricks

THEY have been criticized for sometimes losing their old bite, but there’s no stopping various election watchdog organizations from being part of the upcoming May polls. With the planned automation of the 2010 elections, though, the role of the poll watchdog has had to be adjusted.

For instance, National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), the country’s oldest election- monitoring organization, will be conducting a random manual audit of election results. According to Namfrel Secretary General Eric Alvia, speaking at the recent roundtable discussion with the media organized by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, the audit will ascertain whether the count is accurate at the precinct level, and is reported in the election return. The audit will be extended to verify that the tabulation of election returns is accurate at the municipal/city level, the provincial level, and the national level. Namfrel, however, will still be conducting its public and unofficial count in areas where manual elections will be adopted.

Alvia underscored the importance of an independent audit to ensure the integrity and credibility of the electoral process. Namfrel is currently in discussion with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) about the details of the audit. Among these are the sample size of the audited machines – Namfrel would like to increase the sample from three percent to 10 percent of all machines – and when the audit will occur, with Namfrel insisting that it must happen prior to proclamation.

Namfrel also had concerns with the pace of the delivery of the automation systems for the elections. Alvia said that the week of February 10-15 is crucial because that will be when the Comelec’s technical evaluation committee is supposed to decide whether to recommend pushing through with the automation of the elections. Alvia called on the media to be more vigilant, adding, “Do your homework. Ask the right questions.”

Other poll watchdog groups, meanwhile, have been doing their own homework – and then some. The Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE), for example, has been active in building up its network across the country ahead of the upcoming polls. LENTE, whose main thrust is to provide legal support during the elections to other groups (among them Namfrel), was involved in the 2007 national elections and the 2008 polls in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). In both instances, LENTE sent volunteers to monitor election hotspots in hotly contested areas such as Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur.

The involvement of LENTE in the electoral process, however, continues even after voters have gone home and public-school teachers report back to their classes. In 2007, the group filed charges against election supervisor Lintang Bedol, who was involved in the ‘Hello, Garci’ controversy. (See the related PCIJ blog entry: “Cases filed by poll watchdogs await ‘missing’ Bedol“) For the upcoming elections, LENTE is looking to continue its monitoring to aid its advocacy efforts for election law reform, specifically pertaining to legislation that concerns poll automation, voters’ registration, and the party-list system.