MY REFLECTION ABOUT THIS MAY 10, 2010 ELECTION

My stand for this is that the preparations for the first automated elections in the country have been hounded by controversy and difficulties since they began. And on the 11th hour, a “glitch” is discovered. If you ask any computer programmer worth his salt, he’d probably exclaim, “Why only now!?” Why is that only this time the automated election have been discover? So much corruption have been done, many have suffer poverty in our country and we was left behind by our neighboring country; sad but it is true. Not about why the “glitch” happened only now, but why it was discovered only now. Who’s coordinating all the efforts related to automated elections anyway? Why was there double-spacing in the printing of the ballots when it was not programmed for in the PCOS (Precinct Count Optical Scanner) machine’s method of scanning? This are all questions that comes out in my mind days before election and on the day that I am already at the voting center. Filipino voters are edgy now. There are fears of unrest should there be a failure of elections. But while we should concentrate now on the successful conduct of the polls on 10 May 2010, we should not forget that justice must be brought to bear upon this incompetence in the AES preparations. Those responsible should be held accountable, especially that they have accepted full responsibility.

We were so early at the voting center, my grandfather, my father and I was happily vote early, because my " lolo" wake me up so early, he is so excited about the new way of voting. In fact before the election Day he really convinced me to teach him how to shade the sample ballots and I made him a "codigo". He really wants to vote at that time. At exactly 7:49 am we are already there and we take about 9 minutes to vote, it is more simpler. And by all accounts, all of the PCOS machines in the school were operating nominally. Because BEI ( Board of Election Inspectors) in our place knows what they are doing, they are confident enough to do their tasks.

But then as what i have seen in the television not all people in different places are as lucky as what we have experienced. People waited for so long period of time lining up just to vote.

I wonder if everyone will be able to vote by the end of the day, but thank God the COMELEC moved the4 time frame for voting. Well, then not all like this way, many thoughts that now it is automated it is so easy and fast but it is the inverse of it, many went home and not vote, they are tired about the process. in my side if this was happening in my place, I will never go home because only fore one day you can change the future by voting and choosing the right person to set in the position.

Automation, which was once seen as a panacea for election-related problems, is increasingly being viewed as potentially a source, rather than the solution, for the problems weakening the integrity and credibility in the election process.

So what does ‘automation’ actually mean in the Philippine elections context? Voters will receive a pre-printed ballot and will shade an oval next to each candidate they choose. The voter will then feed the ballot into a Precinct Count Optical Scanner (PCOS) located above the ballot box. As the ballot passes through the scanner into the box, the PCOS will save the marks in its internal memory.

There are many advantages to this system. It is simple and understandable by the average person. The technology involved, at least in the scanning process, is tested and proven, and consequently unlikely to result in counting error. If there are doubts about the accuracy of the machine count, the paper ballots can be manually recounted to confirm results. And, because ballots are pre-printed with the candidate names, this system does away with the myriad of problems with handwritten ballots.

This was a reaction about the historical event happened in the Philippines as what I have viewed and experienced, about the political issues concerning the voting behavior of the Philippines. Some of the information I have heard are factual information.

I like the new system of voting, it is easy and accurate, the counting of votes run so fast. And I recommend to use it in the next election; but in a proper way and organized so that people will not suffer most in lining up and waited so many hours.