A "massive disenfranchisement" might occur from the issue of missing records of voters in the recently activated precinct finder of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
In a press briefing on Monday, April 25, veteran election lawyer Atty. Romulo Macalintal, said that this may happen since these voters have not received any confirmation from the Comelec regarding the status of their voting records and as to whether or not their application for registration has been approved.
He also mentioned that any wrong information from the precinct finder on the status of their registration may result in this.
He issued the statement according to him, as both an election lawyer and a lawyer of Vice President presidential candidate Leni Robredo. Macalintal stated that this issue that concerns the citizens is also in the interest of the Vice President.
"Thus, we now call upon the Comelec to immediately verify and investigate this matter and advise the electorate on why is this happening. What is now the assurance of the public that they could still vote despite these seeming confusion brought about by this precinct finder system and how accurate are the information it gives to the electorate," he said.
Macalintal shared that some voters complained to him that the results of the verification of their voting status through the precinct finder showed that their voting status is "not found" or "under review" or "for review".
One of those who messaged him with the same problem was no less than former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban. However, Commissioner George Garcia was able to locate him in the precinct finder. He said that "Jr." was the problem as this might also be the case with others such as missing letters or wrong spelling of names.
Some received the reply that their registration had been deactivated, Macalintal said, despite the fact that they have consistently voted in the past elections. According to the law, a voter’s registration will be deactivated if said voter fails to vote in two consecutive elections. But despite their having voted for the last elections, they received a reply from precinct finder that their names were deactivated.
Members of the youth who are first time voters numbering 4 million, Macalintal stated, are those who would be greatly affected by this occurrence or the "apparent ineffectiveness" and confusion created by Comelec’s precinct finder.
He called on concerned and affected voters that have experienced a similar problem to proceed immediately to the office of their respective election officer and bulletin board of their city or municipal hall where the Certified List of Voters (CLOV) is posted since February 8, 2022. "Because of this problem, I also call upon the Comelec to seriously and fully comply with Republic Act No. 7904 wherein the Comelec provides that 'it shall be the duty of the Comelec furnish every registered voter at least thirty (30) days before an election through registered mail or personal delivery with a Voter Information Sheet or VIS,'” he said.
"This VIS contains the full name and address of the voter and the voting center and Precinct where he is assigned to vote as well as the list of names of candidates for national and local positions," he added.
In case of conflict, Macalintal mentioned that the VIS could be used as evidence to prove the status of voting registration of a person. It is unfortunate, according to him, that even with a VIS he also received a complaint that a voter's name was also deactivated under the Precinct Finder system. He said that in case of conflict between the VIS and precinct finder, he believes that the information in the VIS shall prevail.
The Comelec activated on Friday, April 22 its precinct finder and can be accessed through https://voterverifier.comelec.gov.ph/voter_precinct.