SENATE President Vicente Sotto III yesterday said he is not in favor of the mail-in system of casting votes for the 2022 national elections because it will be prone to massive cheating under the Philippine setting.
“I’m not in favor. It’s the easiest system of voting to cheat,” Sotto said in a message to media.
Sotto issued the statement when asked what he thinks of the mail-in system of casting votes, like in the just-concluded US elections, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
US President Donald Trump, who lost the November 3 elections to former Vice President Joe Biden, has been criticizing mail voting which election experts says is as reliable as other methods. Trump has been saying mail vote is not secure, even while he has voted by mail in past elections and the US has long been using the system
Sotto said several problems will be encountered if the Philippines adopts the US voting system.
“Sino tatanggap? Nationwide? Saan padadala, post office? Kailan bibilangin? Sino bibilang? Paano kung may leak ng results whether true or fake? Any of those procedures can be cheated (Who will receive [the ballots]? Where will it be sent, post office? When will be the votes counted? What if there is a leak of the results, whether true or fake? Any of those procedures can be cheated),” he said.
Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon echoed Sotto’s remark but is not ruling out a mail-in voting system for the Philippines.
“We do not have the infrastructure that is needed to assure our people that voting by mail will reflect the true intent of our people. There are even complaints about rampant vote-buying and intimidation in a system where only personal voting is allowed,” Drilon said in an online interview with the Senate media.
“You can imagine the kinds of complaints we will get in voting by mail where it is difficult to monitor. Our current system simply does not permit voting by mail as a process that will accurately reflect the will of the people. I am opposed to it at this time. We can look at it again the in the future,” he added.
Sen. Joel Villanueva said he sees no problem with mail-in voting as long as safeguards are in place.
“We should explore our options and ensure that we have sufficient infrastructure and the right mechanisms to enable Filipinos to exercise our right to vote and more important for me is to ensure the integrity of our elections. The benefits of mail-in voting come with serious consequences such as ballot tampering and other kinds of fraud. There should be enough safeguards to prevent electoral fraud.
