The days after

We have just had our day of days last Monday, where the very first automated elections in the Philippines were held. And contrary to the nay and doomsayers, the whole process went on a lot better than expected.

Sure, there were glitches. The misinformed teachers with regards to the ink blotting to the other side of the ballots, asking for the fingerprint of voters before they voted, causing the smudging and subsequent invalidation of ballots, the non-usage of the UV lights to check for the authenticity of the ballots, just to mention the major ones.

Then of course the bright idea of clustering precincts, and placing them in schools just too small to accommodate the voters. This caused long queues and exasperating waits, forcing some to just give up. A right they wasted. Freedom and democracy are always worth fighting, and waiting for, I say.

But what really impressed, and stunned, the people was the speed by which results came in. In a matter of hours, results started to pour in like the floods of Ondoy. Most candidates did not know what hit them. Some were surprised to win, some were shocked to lose. And all that talk about the ease by which cheating could be done to the machines, to the flash cards and to the transmitting of results were proven to be unfounded. At least so far.

Even the results of the random manual counting tallying with the electronic ones validated that the system does work. Comelec, especially its chairman Jose Melo is now basking in glory and vindication, after wallowing in shame and corruption during his predecessor’s watch.

   But even when the system seems impervious to cheating, vigilance is still needed for the coming elections. I believe in the determination of the Filipino political cheater, in the sense that a way to bring back the good old days, in any way possible, will be explored.

    So if the hardware cannot be altered, then alter the voter himself. Coercion, intimidation and bribery will be the order of the day. The focus is no longer on the people counting the votes. It may cost more this time, but if the rewards are three to six years of picking dirty apples, then it may be well worth it to the determined.

So much can and must be learned from the days after in order to make the system truly successful. In three years, another election takes place. Hopefully all the problems and issues that have sprung up on May 10 will be addressed and rectified. We may still get to that point when voting becomes as simple as going to the supermarket, on a non-payday. Imagine that!