The National Citizens Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) has urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to open the ballot printing and the operations at the Sta. Rosa warehouse for observation by stakeholders and accredited citizens' arms.
In a statement on Thursday, March 10, the group lamented how observation of the ballot printing at the National Printing Office and in the operations at the Comelec Sta. Rosa warehouse has not been opened to election observation groups, including accredited citizens’ arms.
"Namfrel observers were invited to these in previous elections," it said.
The poll watchdog group said even the stakeholders’ request for information on the regional hubs which the Comelec plans to set up with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and to allow observation on election day, remains pending.
"Namfrel recommends opening up the facilities for observation during the election period until termination of operations," it said.
Namfrel also expressed concern about the lack of guidelines to open up observation by accredited election monitors of the operations in the various data centers where the Comelec Central Server, backup server, and the transparency server are located, including access to regional hubs.
"Namfrel recommends the issuance of such guidelines and to allow stakeholders, including accredited citizens' arms, to field observers in the various data centers and regional hubs during the election period until termination of operations," it said.
Namfrel said while they understand the challenges that the Comelec is facing as it prepares for the elections given the varying Covid-19 alert levels, this should not be an excuse to "curtail observation activities and to deny access to pertinent data."
"The Comelec may livestream activities, such as ballot printing, logistics, and Pre-election Logic and Accuracy Test (preLAT), which is not new to the Commission, as it already streams on social media the e-Rallies of national candidates daily, and its Memorandum of Agreement signing events," it said.
"The Comelec should be commended for finding ways to ensure that voters and election workers will be safe on Election Day. However, it has been recommended that the Comelec extend this diligence to the pre-election and post-election periods, ensuring the safety of other election stakeholders like election monitoring organizations, media, political parties, and other concerned groups, without preventing said stakeholders from doing their monitoring work. The cornerstone of the trust and confidence bestowed on the elections is anchored on the inclusiveness and visibility of these various processes and information to the voting public," added Namfrel.