Election Post Mortem

Gauged by the Constitutional criteria of "free, orderly, honest, peaceful, and credible elections", the May 10, 2010 elections could have passed, except for "orderly"; and, "honest" as in sans vote-buying, and "peaceful" may both qualify with the modifier "generally".

Such right of suffrage by full automation is a novelty and a giant step considering that USA is only 87% automated. While the intent had been lofty and good, the end results of the implementation teetered between bad and good; or, it had its plus and negative aspects.

On the plus side is the great improvement that for the first time in Philippine electoral history, at least partial results were known long before midnight on election day. It used to take a week or two - prior to the automated system - that partial results would be known. As of midnight until early morning of the next day, 80% of the votes were collated by Comelec and flashed on tv.

With fast electronic transmission from polling places, to the municipal and provincial servers, and up to the Comelec - if the electronic facilities didn't bog down - there was hardly any breathing space for manipulators and jammers to do their monkey business. Thus, results were "credible". Even if only for this fast transmission, automation has earned its weight in costs with its usefulness, in contrast to the past.

Poll automation also induced the electorate's enthusiasm or avid interest in the new system of suffrage for which the citizens deserve commendation in civic-mindedness. Probably, they felt the challenge to take part in a change for the better; or the curiosity how the PCOS could be vehicle of change of the antiquated electoral process; or even if many of the voters were motivated by "easy money" for their votes; or, even rarely to help out certain candidates of their choice.

To the winners, from the President down to the bottom town councilors who will be all sporting "honorable" before their names, their happiness is beyond description. Never mind if the unsporting losers may refuse to concede defeat, but insist on being "cheated". Kudos to the teachers as the BEI martyrs, but often maligned for faults and flaws not of their own making.

On the negative side, the May 10, 2010 elections could be the most disorganized, disorderly, chaotic, and fraught with long delay before a voter had his turn, entailing long hours. Imagine the blunder of Comelec in over-clustering four to six precincts in a given polling place, numbering 1000 voters on the average. The voting period of 11 hours from 7 am to 6 pm is only good for 550 voters, reckoned on the voting pace of about 50 voters in one hour. The reasonable maximum voters per clustered precinct ought to be 600 voters on the average. And so, that was the stupendous stupidity of setting the 1000 figure.

If Comelec had anticipatory common sense - which friend Hermie wisely said is most uncommon - it should have tried out the "time and motion/performance" principle among random voters, say, cross-section of ABCDE groupings - consisting of the youth to the more elderly seniors and from near illiterates to the highly literates - from the Intramuros area where the Comelec central office is located. Certainly, the experience and observation one had reckoned out, could have been borne out as the realistic pace of about 50 voters could be served in one hour.

   The fine letters and figures of a lengthened ballot - back to back due to the kilometric party list entries which Comelec has been super tolerant in accrediting even non-"marginalized" sectors - plus the shading of the oval also abetted the delay in filling out the ballot. A cross or X mark, or a check mark will hasten the voting. Try it to confirm.

The lists of voters in fine print also abet over-crowding in the poll premises. It can be improved if barangay officials, party coordinators, leaders and other paid partisans are harnessed by their political principals to deliver in advance to each voter his precinct number, cluster number, and sequence number which are the data for the "priority numbers" enroute to actual voting. And, aside from the 3 BEI members, the Comelec ought to augment a support staff to attend to the orderly and efficient management of voters' traffic.

The PCOS malfunction was another delaying "culprit". As of 12 noon of May 10, 2010, more than 300 PCOS had bogged down, and adding more as the election day wore on. Likewise, the peace and order problems, bombings or "pasabog", shootings, "rumbles", ambuscades, etc., mostly scattered in Mindanao, etc. were hindrances on security that also mattered much.

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