On Monday (May 10th) here in the Philippines its election time. I am kind of worried right now. I’ve heard talk on TV that the election might be postponed for a month or so, due to the voting machines that they are going to use, they are not working properly. See they wanted to have the voting machines here in the Philippines for the first time ever. Wow, why they did not test this machines a long time ago? Why so rapidly testing now and almost all the machines not working right.
A lot of the smart flashcards not working the way they should. They showed some footage last night on TV the flashcard that are defective are not even picked up yet. And they said the replacement will be in the proper voting place by Friday or even on the day of the election. Some are not even here in the Philippines yet. It might have been arriving while I post this article. My problem on that how could they train the teachers how to use the machines and assist the voters if even the teachers didn’t have the proper training on how to use them. Gosh, we really are in for a disaster here. I really hope not.
It could really get nasty here if this thing with the Comelec does not have a resolution soon. I wish the Comelec also had the old voting system for a back up just in case the voting machine did not work. But as I keep seeing and hearing on the news I don’t think the Comelec has a Plan B system. I heard also last night on TV that maybe the remote areas like the place that is far from the city, they might not have an election on Monday. The machines might not be there on time they said.
I’m pretty sure the candidates are mad right now upon hearing the Comelecs comments. They spent a lot of money for the campaign and they might have to spend more if the election will be postponed. I am worried more with the people. They could uprise and do something if this election will not go through. I am already worried with some of the killings here related to politics. The other candidates killed the opponent or the people that supports them. It could be more violence happen if the election be postpone. Just hearing from a lot of the people here they want the president to be out of power now. They said they are tired of her. The people might blame her for the Comelec’s mess up.
I wish and hope for peaceful and honest election. Pray for the Philippines. Peace to all!
Made in China??? By todays technology were talking about a very basic program and hardware application…I find it a bit disturbing that this is occuring now….smells kinda fishy to me. Personally I do not trust the electronic machines, if they are “rigged” their is no way to verify the count. I would prefer to see a ballot with a signature and a thumb print pressed on it.
Hi feyma ,i beleive that the phillipines is a democratic country am i not right ,the fact that they are trying to use a machine to use for voting amazes me ,in our country they have compulsory voting and part of that democratic right is to be able to go into a small cubicle and cast your vote whether it be for one party or another or if you think they all stink then what we call a donkey vote where you put nothing on the ballor paper and plce it in the assighned boxes on leaving the polling booth. First question who paid for these voting machines ? when i visited your country my first thoughts were have i landed on another planet (not trying to be rude) but it was such a culture shock to see the poverty that some of your fellow countrymen & woman have to live in ,instead of buying machines to seewho rules the country start running the country , i think i will side with brian on this one sounds dodgy to me how do you know that the person you press on the screen actually will get your vote ,you dont the way that technology advances these days they could have all the votes going to abu sayaf for all anyone knows what is wrong with a tick in a box saying this is who i want to run my country if the goverment did proper census counts then they would know what the population of there country was and who the heck is living there ,sorry feyma but i get riled up when peple start mucking around with peoples basic rights and this is one of them, women in our country went to prison for the right to vote and it was only in the last few decades that the native aboriginals (original inhabtants) have been allowed to vote” bah” polititions who needs em not one has done a decent days work in there lives
chris
Hi all,
The coming elections worries everybody.
Coming monday or tuesday we will know more. A few scenarios are possible. On my website I posted these scenarios.
check them HERE
Point is : do we have to take precautions? do we have to be prepared for riots or something?
Let’s hope that the elections are going smooth, may the best man win !
Jan
Hi Jan,
The link to your website doesnt seem to work?
Regarding the voting machines, it has been a hot topic around the world for a while now, not just the philippines. As with anything new, you’ll be suspicious and reluctant to use it in the beginning. Also, its not uncommon for new systems to have bugs/problems when they’re first introduced and put to use, as its on a much larger scale that they are “tested”.
The link is : http://expatinthephilippines.com/best-and-worst-case-scenarios-election-2010-philippines/
With the corruption in mind, and knowing that GMA likes to stay in power, and that the owner of the voting machine company is a buddy of the first gentleman and Comelec doesn’t like to switch to manual voting (they stopped printing the ballots for it)…….
Hi jan – You say:
GMA has categorically said many times that she does not desire to stay in power. Yet you say “knowing that she wants” to stay in power. How do you know that? Did she tell you so? Just curious.
You’re right there, Bob!
We should stop speculating already that GMA would never step down from her presidency. It’s time for this country to move on, don’t you agree?
Hi JR – As far as I can see, GMA has proven her point by the fact that elections have proceeded today. Yeah, it’s time to just move on and forget all the intrigue!
I think that Benigno Aquino III will be writing an “Ask Feyma” letter if he doesn’t win.
Hi Feyma – Our prayers for the Philippines started when the first speaker jeepney musically drove by. The topic of our prayers will still be for peace, but now they are directed toward another area.
If it wasn’t for rumor and intrigue, things would probably be acceptably boring. That won’t happen here, though! Postponing the elections would only give some campaigns time to reload. 🙁
It’s been long overdue that our country needs an honest leader. I can only hope that they give the Presidency to whom it is due. It seems that current president has all the power even up to the last minute of his term to influence the results of the election knowing that he owns comelec, the military, cabinet members loyal to her…these are just to mention a few. Although I’m here in the US but I follow the news everyday of this exciting and nerve wrecking event..Election Day. I go home there every year and I look forward to see a new President when PAL land in Manila.
Hi Feyma, some corrections to my post I wrote the word him instead of her. What I mean is the word her since the current president is a female (Gloria Arroyo). Thanks.
Having worked in the software industry for over 10 years, and having been involved in many large Enterprise deployments, I understand the role of testing, implementation problems, defect analysis, release updates, operations… balancing everything with available resources – all I can say is GOOD LUCK (I’m NOT being sarcastic).
Gary- I dont think we have any thing to worry about re the software- after all the new chips with the new software installed are not yet even in the machines !!! lol Apparently some polling stations will have to wait several hours after the polls close for the chips to actually arrive on site !! lol Now thats what I call testing !! haha Trial by fire is more like it !
I am very skeptical concerning the use of electronic ballots. There have been many discussions in the Philippine media, recently, surrounding the issue of possible compromised results. One of the problems with such a system is that the counting can not be monitored by independant and/or international observers, in the same manner as manual counting can.
Mike2
Hi Feyma,
I’m pretty sure there will be a new Philippine president after May 10th. So Filipinos need not worry. In all likelihood though, the Supreme Court will have to come in and arbitrate on the expected chaos that you correctly predict. The court will effectively (not the people) select the new President.
This happened in the U.S. three elections ago. The losing party should not worry either- their candidate will eventually win the Nobel Prize for Peace.
It’s the age of Terminator 3 -The Rise of the Machines.
I just pray those machines have been thoroughly reprogrammed and will not declare George Bush as Philippine president.
Just kidding guys….
Thank goodness it’s Saturday, 2 days before elections and the hoopla has finally died. I just find everyone from pols to the media are such drama queens anything about election automation. The problem was that the ballot design was changed, Smartmatic did not test their program against the new design. However, I watched that “glitch” on tv about it and have 2 comments only:
1. Idiot smartmatic to NOT actually test the individual flash cards before sending them out. It’s quality assurance.
2. Idiot comelec for changing the design from single space to double space without conferring with smartmatic regarding the change in design. Short sighted bureaucrats.
Finally, my sense from talking to local Filipinos (I’m working with them up here in the north from high to low), they want the automated polls to succeed.
Thanks for the link, Jan! That was an interesting article on Smartmatic-Sahi TIM. I did hear that there would be no manual count, which is a disappointment.
Mike2
I would have thought Florida 2000 would have cured anyone of wanting to use machines to count votes, but apparently not. There is no real substitute for manual counting by independent people based on the voter’s clearly expressed intention on the ballot paper, with the candidates (or their scrutineers) having the right to observe and challenge decisions to an independent judicial body. Machine voting will always be open to suspicions of vote rigging and/or plain malfunction.
That being said the polls suggest a clearcut result for the presidency at least, and if the election outcome is consistent with that I hope for a peaceful acceptance of it by all Filipinos.