BILANG PILIPINO | Comelec working on online precinct finder to address concerns, says Jimenez

April 26, 2022 , 11:08 AM

By Beatrice Puente

(April 26, 2022) – Some voters who have the same name as other individuals in their locality may find it difficult to confirm their registration status through the online precinct finder but the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is trying to find ways to address this concern, its spokesperson said on Monday.

James Jimenez said the online database is not specific to a particular person anymore because of the lack of birthdate. Jimenez cited the Data Privacy Act as a restriction that hindered the Comelec from including the birthdate in the online precinct finder for the 2022 elections launched last Friday.

“Nagkakaroon ng possibility ng multiple records kasi magkakapareho ang pangalan,” said Jimenez on One News’ The Big Story. “We are working on that again because of the removal of the date of birth field, which is a data privacy requirement, so we’re finding ways to make it work even without that.”

Some voters have encountered difficulties in looking for their registration status, wondering why they were tagged as deactivated. Others, meanwhile, found no record of their registration status at all.

More than 7.2 million voters have been deactivated by the Comelec, as of March.

Comelec commissioner George Garcia earlier advised the people to visit their local election officers to ask about their official registration status. Jimenez echoed this and added that it could be done via e-mail as well.

“Kung minsan, hindi nagsho-show up sa precinct finder pero actually either nasa listahan talaga or meron silang hindi nagagawang tama,” said Jimenez. “All of these can get clarified for you at the office of the election officer.”

Garcia also previously explained that the people should have voted either in the 2018 barangay elections or the 2019 midterm elections to not risk being deactivated. Under the Omnibus Election Code, those who did not vote in two successive elections will have a deactivated registration status.

Barangay elections are considered regular elections, according to the Supreme Court.

“Kung hindi ka nakaboto noong 2018 at hindi ka nakaboto noong 2019, kahit nakaboto ka noong 2016, made-deactivate ang iyong pangalan,” said Garcia in an interview with Ted Failon and DJ Chacha sa Radyo 5.

With only two weeks left before voting day, the Comelec has continued to face various issues regarding its preparations. Poll watchdogs raised concerns about transparency as the printing of the ballots was largely not observed by independent stakeholders that should be involved in the process.

Gus Lagman, who heads the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections, said around 70% of the ballots were printed by the Comelec without being observed by outside witnesses.

“I would like to see the Comelec bring back transparency in our elections and that can only be done if precinct counting is brought back to manual. And there are ways to make it fast—all it needs is a good system at the precinct level,” said Lagman.

(PM)

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