As Eleksyon 2022 approaches, the Commission of Elections (Comelec) is concerned that some deceased people may still be on the voter list.
The Comelec cautioned that voters who died during the COVID-19 pandemic were still on the list, according to Sandra Aguinaldo’s special report on “24 Oras” on Monday.
According to the Comelec, some of these cases could be used to call the elections into question.
“Na-foresee ko talaga na pagdating ng eleksyon day maraming kababayan natin na makikita pa rin nila ang mga pangalan ng mga kamag-anak nila sa listahan is because hindi na nakaka-keep pace yung ating delisting process,” Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez said.
(I really foresee that when election day comes, many of our fellowmen will still see the names of their relatives on the list because our delisting process can no longer keep pace.)
“Other people might see the names of their relatives, and that can be used as an argument that the elections are rigged,” the official added.
According to the records given by the local civil registrar, the names of the deceased are being deleted from the voter’s list.
Dead people still included in voters’ list – Comelec
“Ang delisting process kasi natin ay dumadaan tayo thru the civil registry. So, kung hindi tayo ma-inform ng civil registry tungkol sa mga pumanaw na, hindi rin natin natatanggal,” Jimenez said.
(The delisting process is because we go through the civil registry. So, if the civil registry cannot inform us about those who have passed away, their names could not be deleted.)
Meanwhile, the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE), an election watchdog, asked electoral board members and the general public to exercise caution on election day.
“Magalahang parte ng election day process natin ‘yung pag-veverify ng identity. So sana, ‘yung mga poll workers natin, yung ating mga electoral board members sa unang hakbang pa lamang ay maging strict na para maiwasan nga ang mga pangyayari na may mga taong nagpre-pretend na bumoto gamit ang pangalan ng ibang tao” Atty. Ann Caritos of LENTE said.
(An essential part of our election day process is identity verification. So hopefully, our poll workers, our electoral board members, in the first step, will be strict to avoid incidents where there are people who pretend to vote in the name of other people.)
Visit our Facebook page for more news updates.