AS PART of its continuing mission to uphold transparent and credible elections, the election watchdog, National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel ) officially launched "Operation QR Count 2025" (OQC 2025), a citizen-driven initiative that encourages Filipinos to actively take part in verifying the results of the upcoming 2025 National and Local Elections (NLE).
Namfrel introduced a mobile application that allows anyone with a smartphone and internet connection to scan QR codes found on Election Returns posted outside polling places. These scanned images will be submitted to Namfrel, where they will be compared with the official electronic results from the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
The NAMFREL 2025 app, now available for free on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, is open to everyone. Students, youth groups, civil society members, local candidates, and even ordinary voters are all encouraged to participate.
"Everybody is encouraged to download the NAMFREL 2025 app to help independently verify the transmitted election results in their own polling place, voting center, barangay, city, and municipality. Every voter should be an observer. You can do this even if you are not a Namfrel volunteer,” said Namfrel National Chairperson Lito Averia through a virtual media conference on Thursday, May 8.
“We especially encourage young people, and even local candidates and their supporters, to download and use the Namfrel 2025 app to ensure that the votes in their communities are verified via the Namfrel OQC 2025," he added.
In the same launch, Averia emphasized that verifying the Election Returns posted outside polling places is important because these are printed before the electronic transmission of votes.
"We want the public to help independently verify the transmitted results using the Election Returns posted outside because these will be printed prior to electronic transmission. These are the same votes verified by the voters themselves while they were inserting their ballot through the automated counting machines," he explained.
Further strengthening this initiative, Namfrel volunteers will also be allowed to scan the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) QR codes in 60 chosen clustered precincts across the country.
The VVPAT is the receipt-like paper that shows the voter how their vote was recorded by the machine. It serves as a backup record of the vote and adds an extra layer of verification.
Averia also urged voters to take time to learn more about the elections, stating, “Pag sinabing vote wisely, alamin natin, para naman makaboto tayo nang maayos. Alamin natin yung trabaho ng iba't ibang posisyon at alamin natin yung mga kakayahan ng ating mga kandidato (When we say vote wisely, we need to understand the responsibilities of each position and the qualifications of the candidates so we can vote right.)"
He stressed that being informed is key to casting a thoughtful vote.
Multiple people can scan the same Election Return, and internet access is only needed during the actual uploading of the data, not during the scanning. Since the Election Returns are posted for up to three days after the elections, people have plenty of time to participate.
With Operation QR Count 2025, Namfrel said that they will continue their long history of citizen-led efforts to ensure clean and honest elections in the Philippines. DEF with reports from Jessalou Algodon Silpa, UM Intern