But Abalos’ move surprised another poll exec: Ballot/voter ratio has ‘always been 1:1’
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is reportedly printing four million “excess” or reserve ballots for the May 2007 mid-term polls.
Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. over the weekend argued that the four million ballots are “spare” in cases when voters need extra copies should they committ errors in filling up ballots or when some ballots get lost or damaged during transportation.
Abalos earlier told reporters that the Comelec is printing 49 million ballots when there are only 45 million registered voters estimated this year based on the country’s annual population growth rate of 2.36 percent.
Jose Pio Joson, Comelec executive director, admitted that the poll body is only expecting a stock of 45 million registered voters qualified to vote this coming May.
Joson confirmed that a realistic increase could only be within three to five percent for a national election, should there be growth in the voting population.
He expressed surprised at Abalos’ announcement regarding the printing of the additional ballots.
Joson said traditionally, the Comelec would print the exact number of ballots matching the total number of registered voters.
“In the past elections, the ratio has always been 1:1 because not all registered voters would vote anyway,” he noted.
“We are also avoiding the possibility of some of these ballots getting into the wrong hands,” Joson said during an interview.
According to Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform (IPER), most election fraud or dagdag-bawas (vote-padding/vote-shaving) happens through the use of official ballots printed by the Comelec.
“As to how these ballots get into the wrong hands, I don’t know,” Casiple said.
Hmmm... bakit kaya 49 million ang na-print nila? Remember, the ratio for voter/ballot has always been 1:1. They usually don't print any "spare" or "excess" ballots.
Maybe the article below had something to do with how the COMELEC ended up printing 49 mil ballots. Basahin nyo yung article nung Tribune from last year:
Fraud ops on; 07 voters list bloated by 8 million
11/09/2006
Election fraud operations appear to have started this early, with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) already bloating the voters’ list with an additional 8 million voters, an increase in just six months, which statistics senators found impossible and incredible.
Not only was the proposed national appropriations for next year found to bloated but that the number of Filipino voters expected to participate in the May 2007 senatorial and local polls, are also just as bloated. This early, the Comelec took the position that the numbers will swell by at least 8 million voters, in just a matter of six months.
Senators present at yesterday’s budget hearings discovered this, with the finance committee headed by Sen. Franklin Drilon yesterday morning unearthing what they detected as suspicious statistics and unjustifiable figures being presented by the Comelec under its proposed P6.2 billion 2007 budget.
While there is a difference of only P800 million compared to the current expenditures of the poll body, senators, immediately caught on to what they said were overstatements, noting that the increase in the proposed election budget is huge, and is by as much as P1.8 billion, compared to the last round of the electoral exercise two years ago that accommodated the present number of registered voters.
Senators were told by Comelec officials that the increase is based on their assumption on population where the current 41.7 million total voters are projected to reach 49 million by year-end due to the ongoing registration of new voters, whose deadline is on Dec. 31, 2006.
And because of the increase of 8 million in the electorate, the Comelec also told the senators that an additional 94,000 precincts will be created.
With a projection of 49 million voters, the Filipino voting population would be comprised of 57.6 percent, or well over half of the total population of 85 million, which is an incredible voters percentage.
“You cannot avoid the suspicion that the budget is being bloated to this extent. The budget is being increased for national and local elections to P792 million compared to 2004,” Drilon said.
“But more alarming is the proposed increase in the Sanggunian ang Barangay elections,” he stressed.
“In 2002, the budget for the barangay elections was P1.4 billion. For a similar exercise, five years later, the budget will be increased to P2.4 billion or an increase of P1 billion. So that the total increase for the electoral exercise by the Comelec for the national, local and barangay election, if you compare it with the years when a similar political exercise was done, the total increase is P1.7 billion.
“This cannot be justified...You cannot justify that. The total budget in 2004 of the Comelec is P5.4 billion for local and national elections. For 2007, the total proposed budget is P6.2 billion or an increase of nearly P800 million. In the SK and barangay elections, as I said, the budget in 2002 was P1.4 billion; the proposed budget for 2007 is P2.4 billion,” he said.
Drilon was quick in shooting down the assumption of the poll body on the projected number of voters by year end, pointing out that such a huge additional voters’ figure is just not feasible
“Unless they justify it, we will reduce the budget substantially,” he said, referring to the Comelec’s proposal to increase the number of precincts from 216,000 in 2004 to 310,000 for the coming mid-term elections.
“Under their (Comelec) proposal, they want to establish 94,000 more precincts compared to 2004. And yet, there is no substantial increase in the number of voters registered for 2007. As of the end of 2006, second quarter, there was approximately 41.7 million registered voters, which is almost the same as the 2004 number of voters. And yet, in the budget for 2007, there is a proposal to increase the number of precincts by 94,000 on a presumed number of registered voters of P49 million.
“It is certainly questionable to project that between June 30 or July 1 2006, and Dec. 31, 2006, another 7.5 million to 8 million voters will register to justify the increase of 94,000 precincts. This is very suspicious. We will closely scrutinize the budget at this point. The additional 94,000 precincts being established are suspicious,” Drilon said, adding that the initial impression gathered is one that says the budget of Comelec is bloated by about P1.8 billion.”
This was stated by Drilon to reporters in a briefing after the hearing, as he explained the contrast of figures presented to the senators in similar exercises done in the past.
“Moreover, the estimate of registered voters is overstated by, at this point, about nearly eight million,” he further pointed out, citing what he called an erroneous assumption arrived at by poll officials.
“It is not reasonable to accept the assumption that between July 1 and Dec.31, 2006, another eight million voters will register. Therefore, the assumption is erroneous on the basis of what actually transpired.
“They (Comelec officials) said this is their assumption based on population. But obviously, their assumption is totally erroneous. If you base it on the number of registered voters as of June 30. 2006, only 41.7 million registered and only six months remain for the registration period. It is not reasonable to assume that another eight million will vote unless you get (lawyer Raul) Lambino (of the Sigaw People’s Initiative move) to bring signatories to the Comelec,” he said.
The remark was an allusion to Sigaw’s ghost voters.
Last November 2006, 49 million raw ang voters natin, sabi ng COMELEC. They were criticized for coming up with that ridiculous number. Ngayon, naging 45 million na lang. May nagmi-milagro ba sa COMELEC? Are they using fuzzy math?
UPDATE: Whoa, nagbago na naman. Back to the original number 49 mil!
No extra ballots to be printed: Abalos
Says 49M figure based on projected number of voters
ELECTIONS Chairman Benjamin Abalos yesterday said the Comelec will print just exactly one ballot for every registered voter for the May 14 elections.
"We will stand by the one ballot per one voter policy," Abalos said. "There is no truth that there will be extra ballots in the elections."
Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the pronouncement of Abalos that the poll body would print 49 million ballots, more million than the expected number of registered voters was taken out of context.
"Definitely, there will be no excess ballots," said Jimenez.
"It might be a case of confusion in the estimation of the number of registered voters on the part of the Chairman as the official number of voters has yet to be completed," Jimenez said.
Comelec Executive Director Jose Pio Joson earlier expressed surprise over Abalos’ statement, saying that in past elections the ratio was 1:1 since not all registered voters would vote anyway.
Jimenez said when Abalos said 49 million ballots would be printed, he meant to retain the 1:1 ratio of ballots to voters based on his expectation of the total number of voters after last year’s new registration.
49 million! WOWOWEE!
UPDATE: From Lito Banayo:
This early, you can smell it. Not the scent of flowers that preludes the break of spring , not the scent of perfume that a lady exudes, but the scent of cheating. Better yet, the stench of cheating.
Four million more ballots are being printed by the Comelec. As reserves, as contingency they justify. But even their career executive director, the highly respected Pio Joson, raises more than just an eyebrow. "Maybe a 3 to 5 % reserve, but 10 %?", he asks. Besides, not all the 45 million voters registered as of December 31, 2006 are going to vote. Historically, in mid-term elections, only three-fourths of the electorate cast their ballots. Why then the excess printing?
Is it because those in the woodwork will sell these extra ballots to mayoralty and congressional candidates who need to manufacture their victory? Is it because they need extra ballots to stuff contested precinct returns in pre-proclamation as well as post-proclamation proceedings? Or is it because, as in Garci, as in 2004, the cheating has been well-planned, well-laid out, and it’s all over but for another Hello Garci?
Looks like our friend Randy David has a point when in his PDI column he called for boycott. He has reasons other than manipulation, foremost of which is participation as a means of legitimizing the illegitimate.
The only way to make a difference in how the government and COMELEC is run is to throw the cheaters and the corrupt officials out and vote the reformers and the good guys in.
But how do you do that kung dadayain na naman tayo this election? When all of those involved in the COMELEC dagdag bawas operation remain unpunished (many were even promoted)?
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