Thursday, May 17, 2007 Espinoza: Voting problems and negative vote buying By Elias L. Espinoza Free Zone
C-CIMPEL deserves cheers and commendation for a job well in last Monday’s polls. If not for the help of its volunteers, it would have taken me perhaps an hour to locate my voting precinct in Subangdaku Elementary School, Mandaue City.
Voters unable to find their polling precinct immediately is a perennial problem in every election. Most voters experienced this Monday.
Our elections happen every three years. I cannot understand therefore why the Commission on Elections (Comelec) changes or relocates the precincts of the voters in every election.
Without the assistance of C-Cimpel, which is composed of young volunteers, last Monday’s elections would have been more chaotic than those of last year. C-Cimpel has a list of voters and their respective poll precincts.
The other problem, although minor, was poll clerks not having a uniform system of signing, thumb printing and giving out the official ballot to voters.
I strongly believe that the solution to the confusion in every election is computerization. This will not only save time and resources for the government but will also make every political exercise credible and free from never-ending accusations of poll cheating.
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In all the elections that I participated in as voter, this year’s political exercise seemed to have surpassed the previous ones held after Martial Law. Candidates resorted to violence just to win a seat in government.
It’s unbelievable, but candidates killed each other for posts not considered honorable anymore because of graft and corruption. In fact, our country recently topped the list of corrupt countries.
The purpose of elections is defeated by the desire of some candidates to get elected by all means. The way things are turning now, running for public office is no longer about public service or accountability but about power and influence. The 3Gs (gold, guns, and goons) are still used even in this age of computers and high-tech communication systems.
Cebu City is perhaps one of the few places in the country where the election was literally peaceful. Guns or goons were not used but money flowed.
No offense meant but it was baloney for some political leaders in Cebu City to claim that they did not use money to get votes. I received information that a party in power employed what we call in election parlance as “negative vote buying.” This means that voters identified with the other party were paid not to vote, with indelible ink placed on their index fingers.
Actually, this is not new. They call this as “lansangan” (nailing).
If media will only look at the election returns closely, the turnout of voters in some precincts in Cebu City is low. Let us say that in a precinct of 150 voters only about 50 voted. The 100 that did not vote must have been “nailed” or paid not to vote.
I’m not saying that this is a lesser evil than terrorizing the voters. Negative vote buying is still an election offense, hence, a crime. However, Comelec officials only tell us that it is difficult to prosecute the offenders.
“If there is a will, there is a way,” the famous line goes. The failure or the lack of will of Comelec officials to prosecute those who breached election laws gave the culprits the feeling of immunity.
