Inconceivable increases

Indeed, months before the elections there were reports of discrepancies in the number of voters in many regions showing inconsistencies with census figures. In Mindanao – where the occurrence of fraud in 2004 was the biggest and which is said to have decided the outcome of the elections – many provinces showed inconceivable increases in the number of voters.

Aside from the unexplained upsurge in the number of registered of voters, Comelec failed to ease public fears in connection with the printing of ERs and other election paraphernalia by a private company inside the National Printing Office. The private firm had been linked into the 2004 election fraud for being the alleged source of fake ER forms.

The poll body also accredited several Party-list groups that either had dubious connections with the administration and its allies or could not qualify to represent marginal sectors under the Party-list system. Conversely, it played a blind eye to the militarization of several barangays in the National Capital Region which was clearly designed to intimidate supporters of the progressive Party-list bloc and engage in other partisan activities.

In previous elections, Comelec was at the center stage where it could see the whole electoral exercise as a theater of fraud: from the padding of registered voters; the flawed accreditation of nuisance candidates and Party-lists; during the campaign period that was marred by vote buying, overspending and killings; voters disenfranchisement and cheating on election day; and in the ongoing canvassing of votes dwarfed by reports of irregularities. The national trend of irregularities has become more rampant during the recent elections where election officials were seen to be complicit or, at the very least, simply failed to do their job in ensuring fair and democratic elections.

Nothing but disgraceful

The Comelec is a monstrous machinery. Aside from supervising the elections with police powers, it has the power to declare a candidate winner or loser in local, congressional or presidential elections. It is how it exercises its authority that determines the conduct of any election – whether every voter can vote freely and peacefully and make his/her own choice of candidate without the influence of an election malpractice. It has the power to prosecute perpetrators of election fraud and send them to jail. In discharging its responsibilities, however, it can show no record that would erase public perceptions that its performance is nothing but disgraceful.

Still, the route to power passes through this gauntlet. This is the reason why politicians, especially reigning Presidents, have influenced the appointment of Comelec members to put the poll body at their beck and call. But the commission and its network of local officials, as recent elections have shown, can also be a source of naked wealth and power. Fraud makes wealth – it also makes promotions.

In a society ruled by political dynasties, no election has been fair and square. In past elections, the outcome had been dictated by the proverbial 3Gs: guns, goons and gold. More recently, aside from the 3Gs, the outcome of voting has been decided by one’s political hold on the poll body – and the numerous compromises that powerful election authorities make with the highest bidders to rig the elections. Center for People Empowerment in Governance / Posted by (Bulatlat.com)

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