EDITORIAL - Not so indelible?

Names have been added or are missing while certain entries are erroneous in the voters’ lists. Those are among the complaints now being raised regarding the lists that the Commission on Elections finally released last week. The lists should have been made public three months ago, but no one is surprised over the delay. To end all the carping, the Comelec announced yesterday that the old voters’ lists would be used instead.

Can anything else go wrong in this electoral exercise? Probably. The National Movement for Free Elections has expressed concern over the quality of the indelible ink that will be used on May 10. Like the release of the voters’ lists, delivery of the ink was delayed. Delivery was supposed to have been staggered, ending on April 15. Namfrel officials said it would take a month to import a component that is critical for making the ink indelible. The Comelec disputed this, and announced days later that 500,000 15-ml bottles of indelible ink – the entire requirement for the elections – were sitting in a Comelec warehouse, awaiting distribution to polling centers nationwide. The ink was manufactured by a firm based in Pasig, Texas Resources Corp. Namfrel wants the ink subjected to more tests; the Comelec sees no need.

While Namfrel frets about the indelibility of the ink, the opposition is accusing the administration of planning to use the ink for marking people who will sell their votes on election day. At least the opposition appears to have no doubts about the quality of the ink.

Concerns would not have been raised if the ink had been delivered on time, then subjected to the proper tests to the satisfaction of election watchdogs, which are worried that not-so-indelible ink will be used on flying voters. Distribution could have been monitored to make sure the ink would not fall into the hands of people who would offer "black manicures" worth P500 in exchange for one’s vote, as the opposition is alleging. Now the nation will just have to brace for the possibility that this ink may leave an indelible stain on the conduct of the elections.