SC asked not to lift TRO on ‘No Bio, No Boto’

MANILA, Philippines - Anti-biometrics petitioners yesterday asked the Supreme Court (SC) to reject the plea of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to lift the temporary restraining order (TRO) on the “No Bio, No Boto” policy requiring voters to register biometrics for next year’s polls.

Led by Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon, petitioners contested the claim of  Chairman Andres Bautista that the TRO  would delay the poll body’s preparations for the May 2016  elections.

“Comelec’s technical predicament stems from the fact that the poll body excluded the estimated 2.5 million active voters without biometrics in the forward planning for the upcoming elections, despite the fact that these voters have already participated in past elections and are well in their right to participate in the next polls, if not for the assailed ‘No Bio, No Boto’ policy,” they said.

The claim was “baseless and irresponsible,” and the Comelec should blame itself for the delay it has foreseen, petitioners said.

“The Comelec itself has in fact systematically planned to disenfranchise the said number of registered voters, even from the beginning of the election preparations,” they said.

Petitioners rebutted the Comelec’s claim that the policy would cleanse the voters’ list and weed out flying voters.

“Whether they are actually ‘flying voters,’ and whether the lapse has been on the part of Comelec or of the  voter, the certain fact is this: 2.5 million registered voters cannot vote in the next elections,” they said.

The purpose of biometric registration and validation will prove to be moot as the technology enabling the poll body to digitally verify and validate voters’ identities on election day will not be used, petitioners said.

Instead of providing an electronic Voter Verification System (VVS), Bautista announced last month that a hard copy of the voters’ list would still be used in the upcoming elections to verify the identities of voters, they added.

Petitioners reiterated their argument that the new policy violates the Constitution as it adds a substantive requirement for Filipinos to be able to exercise their right to vote.

“It violates due process as it is an unreasonable deprivation of the constitutional right to vote for millions of Filipinos who have failed to register their biometric information despite existing and active registration – in effect a voter’s re-registration – for various reasons whether personal or institutional,” they said.

The SC is expected to hold a special session on Dec. 16 to decide on the Comelec’s plea to lift the TRO.