Groups ask Comelec to audit party-list votes
MANILA, Philippines — Sectoral groups urged the Commission on Elections to conduct a special random manual audit for party-list votes in the May midterm elections, citing missing and disenfranchised votes.
Etta Rosales, Akbayan Party chairperson emeritus, led the filing of the petition Friday at the Philippine International Convention Center, where the poll body canvasses votes for senatorial and party-list contests.
Audit of party-list votes is necessary, the groups stressed, as they cited alleged instances of discrepancy between votes in ballots and results reflected in the verification paper audit trail and disenfranchisement of votes due to malfunctioning vote counting machines, defective SD cards and reports of misprinted ballots
They also noted the audit process for party-list votes should be the same as the votes for district representatives.
“Why leave out the party-list votes from manual audits? After alarming reports of missing votes in receipts or disenfranchised voters, Comelec should include party-list votes in random manual audit processes,” Rosales said in a release.
The groups also asked the Comelec en banc to allow party-list groups to observe in the audit process, once the petition is granted.
The RMA must be conducted for the May 13, 2019 automated synchronized national and local elections and subsequent elections thereafter, according to Comelec Resolution 10525 promulgated last April 11.
Comelec Commissioner Luie Tito Guia, RMA head, said the procedure is required by law.
“It is a requirement of law to compare the precinct result against votes that can be read by the eye,” Guia told reporters Monday.
Comelec, the Philippine Statistics Authority and Legal Network for truthful Elections started the random manual audit Wednesday.
The signatories of the petition include Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa, National Union of Workers in Hotel Restaurant and Allied Industries, Lakas ng Diwang Tomasino, UP Alyansa ng mga Mag-aaral Para sa Panlipunang Katwiran at Kaunlaran, Pambansang Kilusan ng mga Samahang Magsasaka, Student Council of the Philippines, Sanggunian ng mga Mag-aaral ng Paaralang Loyola ng Ateneo de Manila, Union of students for the Advancement of Democracy and Center for Youth Advocacy and Networking. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
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