Comelec: Poll surveys allowed by law

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) ruled yesterday that electoral surveys are allowed under the law.

In rejecting a complaint against the Social Weather Stations, the poll body said the Fair Election Act recognizes surveys as the opinions or perceptions of voters.

“At the most, the survey is just a fearless forecast on the result of the elections to be held,” read the Comelec resolution.

“In conducting such survey, therefore, respondent is not violating any election office.”

Upholding the recommendation of its law department, the Comelec said the complaint of lawyer Oliver Lozano had no sufficient legal basis.

“A cursory reading of the compliant-affidavit would readily show that it is based merely on a newspaper article... regarding the survey conducted by respondent,” read the Comelec resolution.

The Comelec said its law department was correct in declaring that the complaint is insufficient after conducting a preliminary investigation.

“For it contains only bare allegations, without specifying what fraud or falsification was committed,” read the Comelec resolution. 

“Besides, the complainants even failed to state their addresses as well as the addresses of the respondent. On its face, thus, the complaint is incomplete and inaccurate.”

Lozano, along with Ruben Enciso, Eduardo Orpilla and Melchor Chavez, had asked the poll body to stop the SWS from conducting election surveys on ground that these are influencing the electorate.

Meanwhile, the League of Provinces has branded as “voodoo statistics” the recent SWS survey showing the country’s unemployment rate at 34.2 percent.

Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone, LP secretary-general, said the survey is “farcical reporting” at its worst.

“First how can 1,200 respondents yield even a semi-accurate data on unemployment,” he said.

Evardone said SWS and other polling outfits are “purveyors of baseless doom.”

“How can a country be named one of the few countries in the world that is prepared for the global economic meltdown when it has an unemployment rate of 34.2 percent?” he asked.

Evardone said no country can be politically stable with that unemployment rate.

“The two (opposing) contentions cannot be reconciled,” he said.

“It was ironic that while multilateral institutions and rating agencies have been taking note of the country’s economic strengths at this time of great crisis, our own polling firms have been acting as purveyors of baseless doom.

“For years, the SWS has been a relentless prophet of doom – its data have been running on a single narrative.”