Mall voting simulation slated on July 15

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has chosen four shopping malls to conduct its pilot testing for mall voting on July 15, in connection with the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) scheduled on Oct. 30. 

In a statement yesterday, Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco said two of the simulation exercises would be conducted in Metro Manila and the other two in the provinces. 

For the National Capital Region (NCR), the Comelec has selected SM City Manila and Robinsons Place Manila while for the provinces, the venues are Robinsons Galleria in Cebu City and SM Legazpi in Legazpi City, Albay.

The poll body earlier said it is planning to hold its pilot test on mall voting in line with the coming local elections.  

Based on the 1987 Constitution, the Comelec holds the mandate for the “determination of the number and location of polling places.” 

In its draft Mall Voting Operational Plan, the Comelec initially selected 15 shopping malls located in the NCR, Calabarzon (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon), Bicol and Central Visayas as possible venues for mall voting. 

The Comelec is also pushing for the creation of a law that will include iris scanning and a more detailed fingerprint identification system of voters to remove the names of the dead and double/multiple voter registrants.

“We are pushing for something that would require the passage of a law, we call it the Expanded Automated Identification System,” Laudiangco said during yesterday’s Laging Handa forum.

He explained that at present, their biometrics system called the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) only takes a picture of the voter and scans only four fingers – the two thumbs and two index fingers. 

“But if we could get a legislation, we want to include iris scanning and to scan all 10 fingers of the voters,” he said.

By doing so, the Comelec could strengthen its screening system against “ghost” voters and flying voters since they could block attempts of people to use the identity of the dead and also detect double/multiple voter registrants.

At present, the poll body has spotted 498,000 double/multiple voter registration, of which 120,000 appeared to be intentional.

Out of the 120,000 suspected intentional double/multiple voter registration, Comelec officials are preparing to file a case against 7,000 of them that should lead to a preliminary investigation.

Laudiangco also clarified that even if there are pending cases against those suspected to have committed double/multiple voter registration, they would still be allowed to vote, but only once, and that they would cast their vote at the precinct where they were previously registered.  — Ralph Edwin Villanueva