Lacson missing 117,000 votes in Marikina?

An election watchdog conducting an audit of the May 14 elections claimed uncovering significant vote discrepancies in Marikina City, which reportedly cost re-electionist Sen. Panfilo Lacson at least 117,000 votes.

Roberto Versola, secretary general of Halalang Marangal, yesterday said clerical encoding by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) or the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) might have caused the discrepancies, or there was an “intentional manipulation” of the votes.

Halalang Marangal is conducting an audit on the copies of Comelec and Namfrel election returns as part of its No CHEATS 2007 Citizens Audit. So far, it has covered 32 provinces and cities all over the country.

The audit report did not show where the supposedly missing votes for Lacson were credited.

Lacson of the Genuine Opposition is among the frontrunners in the Comelec and Namfrel tallies, behind topnotcher Loren Legarda and Francis Escudero, both of the GO team.

In its second report, Halalang Marangal said Marikina had the highest vote discrepancies next to Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental.

But Versola told reporters in the weekly Kapihan sa Sulu Hotel news forum in Quezon City that earlier discrepancies found in Negros Occidental have become smaller.

Halalang Marangal suggests closer investigation by concerned parties and institutions into the supposedly conflicting results of the Comelec and Namfrel tallies in Marikina City.

In explaining the importance of having a “citizens’ election audit” especially in future polls: It “will become important if elections become automated because automation often makes the whole tabulation process less transparent and therefore more vulnerable to undetectable mistakes or manipulations.” – Perseus Echeminada