Is it high time to adopt a "hybrid" style of elections? Former House Speaker, Davao del Norte 1st district Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez thinks so.
Davao del Norte 1st district Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez (Facebook)
Alvarez penned and filed House Bill (HB) No.5706, which, if enacted, would tweak the current way elections are held in the country.
“A hybrid mode of voting of will strengthen the integrity of the elections and forego issues like early and inaccurate transmission of votes," he said.
The full title of the measure reads, "An Act providing for the conduct of hybrid national, local, and ARMM elections, through manual voting and counting at the precinct level, and automated transmission and canvassing, and for other purposes."
Under the Mindanaoan's proposal, the actual voting and counting of votes at the precinct level would be done manually. Afterwards, an electronic or automated transmission of the vote tallies and canvassing would be carried out.
By reverting to the manual casting of votes and manual counting of votes cast at the precinct level, Alvarez said Filipinos would have “an unimpeded view of the real-time input of votes".
"This way", the ex-Speaker said, "the voters will be able to ascertain the accuracy between the actual casted votes and those being transmitted electronically."
Alvarez said he filed a version of the bill during the previous 18th Congress.
"Said bill was referred to the Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms but did not advance to the second reading," he said.
Philippine polls became fully automated in 2010. Five automated elections have been held in the country so far.
Although automation significantly sped up the electoral process, it still has its critics especially when it comes to issues of accuracy and transparency.
"This bill aims to address the issues of a fully automated election system. Through manual voting and counting, the public will have an unimpeded view of the real-time input of votes. Both the total number of valid ballots used and the results will reflect both in manual and digital election results," HB No.5706 read.
"In case of a discrepancy between the manual and digital election returns, the former shall prevail. In addition, the digital election return will be projected while the entries are recorded in real-time for the benefit of the viewing public," it added.