#ASKGOYO
Atty. Gregorio Larrazabal
Mail-in voting is now in the center of a very contentious and yes, acrimonious presidential race with the refusal of President Donald Trump to accept defeat. With the recent development in the US and the significant role mail-in voting has in their elections, with over 100 million voters choosing to vote by early voting, the spotlight again is on the proposal for mail-in voting for senior/elderly voters in the May 9, 2022, elections.
I wrote about mail-in voting in the Philippines last September 13. You can read the column here: https://mb.com.ph/2020/09/13/seniors-be-counted/ The proposal by Rep. Stella Quimbo is very commendable, and I hope more people discuss it and determine how best to make it a reality.
I’ve also read several concerns about the security and ballot-integrity concerns. Those are valid concerns which have to be addressed. Elections is a very delicate topic, especially in the Philippines, and we must tread carefully.
One viable option which I think is a very good path to take, is to have a pilot province where senior citizens will vote by mail-in voting.
What does this mean? It means, Congress can pass a law for mail-in voting for senior citizens. But the implementation will be by stages/phases. You start with a pilot province or provinces where elderly voters are to vote by mail-in voting for the May 9, 2022, presidential elections. After the elections, a post-election assessment program should be done to determine the feasibility of expanding the program, taking into the positives vis-à-vis the negatives of the pilot program. A broader roll-out can be done in the 2025 mid-term elections.
What’s important is to address the valid security and ballot integrity concerns mail-in voting may bring about. Some of the concerns we have to look at are:
- Delivery of the ballots.
- Ballot integrity while with the voter.
- Possible threats, intimidation and likely attempt at vote buying while the ballot is in the possession of the voter.
- Security in the sending in of the ballots back to Comelec.
- Threats, intimidation and harm that may be directed at the senior citizen voters who choose to vote by mail after ballot has been sent back to Comelec.
- What method of sending out and retrieval of the ballots will be used?
- How secure is the postal service, if that will be an option in sending in of the ballots?
- Security of the ballots from the time the ballots arrive in the depository, until the time the ballots are counted.
- Do we do a special electoral board per city/municipal board of canvassers to count the ballots on election day?
- How do you make sure unscrupulous individuals cannot use the voting record of the those who sent in their mail-in ballots on election day?
Stay safe. Stay healthy. Register as a voter.