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By William B.
Depasupil, Reporter
The Commission
on Elections has set aside P23.5 million to test out Internet voting
for Filipino overseas workers in Singapore.
The results of
the Internet vote will not be included in the official tally after
the legality of the process came under question. But the Comelec
decided to proceed, saying the exercise would determine how well the
system works.
The funding
provision for voting via the Internet was contained in Resolution
No. 7835, which the Comelec en banc approved last Tuesday.
The Comelec
spokesman, Director James Jimenez, said Friday that the P23.5
million represents the amount to be paid to Scytl, a Spanish IT
company that set up the Internet voting system.
Jimenez said
the Comelec was given authority by the solicitor general to contract
Scytl because its technology is covered by a secret patent.
The e-voting
for Singapore OFWs was approved by the Comelec en banc on January 16
on the recommendations of the Information and Technology Department
and the Committee on Overseas Absentee Voting.
Under the
Comelec plan, e-voting would be tested first in Singapore and would
be adopted in other countries in future elections if proven to be
efficient.
The poll body
revised its original plan to include the Internet votes in the
official count following threats of legal action, which could
disfranchise some 26,000 voters in Singapore.
“What will
be officially counted are the votes cast through mail or those
cast at the Philippine Embassy in Singapore,” Jimenez said.
Despite the
decision, the Comelec remains steadfast that Internet voting is
legal, Jimenez said.
Sen. Richard
Gordon and former Comelec chairman Christian Monsod were among those
opposed to voting through the Internet, saying there is no legal
basis for its implementation.
Commissioner
Florentino Tuason Jr., chairman of the Committee on Overseas
Absentee Voting, said the Comelec can hold an Internet voting under
Section 52 of Batas Pambansa 881, or the 1985 Omnibus Election Code,
as well as in Sections 16.11 of the Overseas Absentee Voting Law
(Republic Act 9189).
The Comelec
chose Singapore because of the wide use of the Internet there.
Filipino voters could cast their vote from any location in Singapore
with access to the Internet.
The Comelec
has set April 14 as the date of voting for more 500,000 overseas
absentee voters all over the world.
Overseas
absentee voting was first implemented in 2004.
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