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DESPITE the automated counting of votes, there is still a strong need for conscience formation of voters to ensure the true outcome of the elections, said the head of a church-based election watchdog.
Marilu Chiongbian, Cebu-Citizens' Involvement, Maturation and People Empowerment and Liberation (C-Cimpel) executive director, said having automated elections meant a change in their game plan.
?With automation, we are expanding and improving our recruitment. We invite the young people. They are more computer literate. We will have a group of experts in IT (information technology) and the poll watchers will have to be trained,? she said.
The C-Cimpel, the political education arm of the Archdiocesan Commission on Service, had been involved in manning polling precincts and conducting quick counts for local and national elections.
The core group composed of more than 23,000 volunteers had been conducting year-round voters' education seminars for almost 18 years.
The same group was tapped to conduct seminars on the Philippine Constitution by Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal during heated debates on Charter Change.
The significance of the group, however, is not diminished with the electronic transmission of election results.
?It (automated polls) will not stop cheating. C-Cimpel has to be there and watch,? Chiongbian said.
With the introduction of the automated process, she said there are questions on the deployment of equipment and installing of the machines.
?The time of Cimpel would be longer because the process of deployment I was told at the latest, would take three weeks. In general, there are safeguards but we have to guard,? Chiongbian said.
She said C-Cimpel volunteers would be deployed in every step of the electoral process, from manning a voter's assistance booth, to the delivery of the Precinct Count Optical Scans (PCOS) and ballots.
?For us, once the ballots arrived at the airport, we already had seminarians waiting there. You have stand alone, the machine can scan the ballot. They even have the memory. This is what we have to guard later, where that memory goes,? Chiongbian.
Chiongbian said the group is conducting a voter's values formation seminar wherein the general election process is explained to the people.
The first module for the formation training would end in January 2010 to be followed by the technical training on poll watching, voting procedures, counting and canvassing of votes.
She said the voters need to be familiar with the new ballots.
?What you really need is to prepare the people for is to fill up the ballots, the shading,? said Chiongbian.
She said the machine is very sensitive that it rejects ballots that are not properly filled .
During seminars, Chiongbian said they explain to voters who the machines operation.
At the close of polls, there is a designated person to install a cable to the PCOS that would allow the electronic transmission of the election results.
There will also be a print out of eight copies of the Election Returns.
As in the manual process, the ERs are distributed to the accredited citizen's election watchdog, major and minor political parties and to the Commission on Elections.
?There is double check. After transmission, you still have C-Cimpel to watch that. You can not transmit the second time. That is why guard all the way,? Chiongbian said.
The automated process, she added would not stop cheating.
?In the end, it is the conscience of people that will decide the outcome of the election. There are safeguards but we still need to stand guard,? she said.
