The democratic system as manifested through the election process does not end with the casting of the ballots. The election process consists of the campaigning by the candidates, the actual voting, the counting of the ballots and the canvassing of the returns, and finally the proclamation of the winning candidates. The campaigning is done by the candidates; the voting by the voters; the canvassing and proclamation by the City or Provincial Board of Canvassers for local positions, by the Comelec in the case of senators, and by the Senate and the House of Representatives in the case of the vice-president and the president. The nation has gone through the first two phases of campaigning and voting. We are now in a most crucial final phase of determining the will of the people.
This phase we say is most crucial and sensitive as its credibility or lack of it will determine the people’s acceptance or rejection of the election result. The key to a credible canvassing of the election returns and certificates of canvass is both speed and accuracy. The faster and more accurate the canvassing the more acceptable it is to the people regardless of who or what party wins. The slower the speed and accuracy in the counting, on the other hand, the more doubts will be cast on the results with ominous consequences to the country and people.
It is precisely this goal of achieving speed and accuracy in the counting of the votes that an election modernization program was embarked on by the casting and counting of ballots via specially designed and programmed computers. Indeed, in this modern age of computer technology the advanced and advancing countries the world over have adopted the computer-driven election system to ensure speed and accuracy in the determination of the will of their respective peoples. Unfortunately for the Philippines in this new millennium we are still laboring under the medieval method of manually counting the votes, thanks to a bungled bidding process conducted by the Comelec for computer counting machines that the Supreme Court voided. So here we are again counting the votes manually, (one, two, three) as our ancestors did before.
Yet, while we understand that a manual counting of election returns is naturally time consuming, we are alarmed that the process is now being conducted exceedingly slow. As of this writing, nowhere around 20 percent is the official counting of the Comelec for the senatoriables. Of course, the canvassing of the Certificates of Canvass by Congress in joint session sitting as a National Board of Canvassers for the positions of vice-president and president has not even started. Even the supposedly quick count of Namfrel is grinding on slow motion with Namfrel officials blaming the Comelec for its slow count.
The danger, of course, in all this is that a long and delayed process of counting makes for an opportunity for cheating and manipulation. Worse, the fact alone of a delay or protraction in the counting of votes itself creates a suspicion in the mind of the people that cheating and manipulation could have taken place and that the canvassing is less than clean and honest. God forbid, but this situation might just provide the spark that could ignite a social conflagration that will rock the very foundations of our democratic way of life.
At the very least, a suspicion of cheating and manipulation of the votes as aroused by a delay in the counting will adversely affect the credibility and mandate of the winning candidates and erode the people’s support in them. Consequently, our leaders’ ability to effectively govern shall be impaired with dire consequences to the country and people. The programs as enunciated by the winners in their platforms of government during the campaign will be seriously placed in jeopardy on account of a people still divided due to their distrust in the election result. And a nation divided, as we all know, can never be a springboard for the country to develop and for the people to prosper.
We, therefore, call on the Comelec to speed up the count and to conduct a clean and honest canvassing of the returns so as to inspire in our people acceptance and confidence in the result.
The long term and lasting solution, however, is to modernize our elections both in the voting and the counting of the votes through a program of computerization of the entire process. The cost of this long delayed project, while enormous, will reap for the nation much more in dividends through a nation strengthened by a credible democratic process.
You may write your comments / suggestions at 15/F Equitable Tower, Paseo de Roxas, Makati City or through e-mail at HYPERLINK "rgroxas@lawyer.com"
(Author’s note: We beg the indulgence of our leaders who are at times asked to read a lengthy piece. The purpose of our writings, however, being advocacy and not merely commentary in nature, compels us to dissect a given problem, analyze its causes and effects, and offer studied solutions. The length of the article should be irrelevant to such an approach.)