cer press release - pre-election findings of bantay eleksyon 2013
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7/30/2019 CER Press Release - Pre-Election Findings of Bantay Eleksyon 2013
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CERCONSORTIUM ON ELECTORAL REFORMS54-CMAPAGAKAWANGGAWA ST,TEACHERS VILL,QUEZON CITY1101TELEFAX:(+632)4330764WEBSITE:www.cer.org.ph
BANTAY ELEKSYON 2013
PAYAPA MONITORING
PRESS RELEASE
May 10, 2013
INDICATIONS FOR
A PEACEFUL, FREE AND FAIR MAY 13, 2013 ELECTIONS
All indications so far point to peaceful, free and fair national and local elections
on May 13, 2013. This is the over-all assessment of the Consortium on Electoral Reforms
(CER) based on findings of Bantay Eleksyon 2013, the CER domestic election
monitoring mission, and Payapang Bayan, Payapang Halalan (PAYAPA), the project
addressing peace in the major areas of election violence of Masbate, and ARMM,
particularly the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur and Basilan.
CER Chairperson Ramon Casiple said, Election violence, though still a matter of
concern, has decreased by more than 50% compared to the levels of 2010 elections, has
remained localized to specific cities and towns, and has not yet necessitated the
placement of any area under Comelec control.
Regarding the preparations for the May 13 elections, Casiple said that the
Comelec has already completed the distribution of election paraphernalia, including the
PCOS machines, has successfully tested and finally sealed the machines for Mondays
elections, trained and deployed the Board of Election Inspectors, AFP and PNP security
forces, and finalized the project of precincts.Casiple said that the remaining issues concern the reliability of the PCOS
machines and the rest of the AES system, the possibilities of disruption of the election
process in warlord and rebel areas and violent rivalries in tightly-contested areas, vote-
buying, and the accuracy of election results.
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7/30/2019 CER Press Release - Pre-Election Findings of Bantay Eleksyon 2013
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Casiple said, The reliability of the PCOS machines themselves have been proven
in the 2010 elections, with only 450 machines failing, out of 80,000 originally assigned to
clustered precincts. This is a 0.6% failure rate, far below the 2.75% failure rate foreseen
in the planning. However, the difficulty of transmission is expected to remain,
particularly in those places where the cellular services are weak or non-existent.
He said further, The prospect for election violence, occurring in rebel and
warlord areas, as well as in tightly-contested rivalries remains high. However, initiatives
coming from government security forces and civil society have resulted to the muting of
this violence.
Vote-buying, Casiple averred, is expected to remain the major violation ofthe
election process throughout the country. It is a disappointment that new initiatives in
curtailing this illegal practice, such as the Comelec money ban, is meeting stiff resistance.
Other Comelec initiatives on restrictions on campaign finance and tighter election
administration have already met with some success such as in the review of the party-list
accreditation, the anti-Epal campaign, the crackdown on illegal posters, and the creation
of a campaign finance unit.
Lastly, Casiple noted that the accuracy of the count is being put in doubt due to
the non-availability of the PCOS source code for review. The Comelec is duty-bound to
make available this to political parties and interested parties, in the interest of
transparency. The random manual audit procedures have also been changed to enable the
voters to see for themselves the veracity of the vote count at the precinct level.
Casiple concluded, In all, the indicators are there for the successful conduct of
peaceful, fair and free elections on Monday, May 13, 2013.
For verification, contact:
Ramon Casiple
Chairperson, Consortium on Electoral Reforms (CER)
CP: 0916-3690182
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