ELECTIONS 2022 | Low turnout feared in next year’s elections if COVID-19 persists

ELECTIONS 2022 | Low turnout feared in next year’s elections if COVID-19 persists – pollsters

July 28, 2021 , 08:50 PM

By Clarist Zablan

(July 28, 2021) – Nearly half of about 60 million eligible voters will not cast their ballots next year if the cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) remain high on election day, an independent pollster said on Thursday.

In its June’s Ulat ng Bayan survey, Pulse Asia said about 46% of respondents will not go out and vote and only about a third or 35% are keen to vote in the election regardless of the intensity of COVID-19 cases in their location.

Nineteen percent of respondents said they do not know if they would.

In past elections before the coronavirus pandemic, more than 75 percent of the country’s eligible voters cast their votes.

For instance, in the 2019 midterm elections, the turnout was at 75%, translating to about 46.3 million of 61.8 million voters.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, who commissioned the Pulse Asia survey, expressed alarm over the survey results, but could not blame the voters for being more concerned for their safety over their duty to vote.

“Hindi po natin nanaisin na mahalal sa ganyang kababa na voters turnout,” Zubiri said. “Mahalaga po na ang magiging resulta ng eleksyon sa susunod na taon ay reflective of the true wishes of the electorate. Kung ano talaga ang pasya ng nakararaming botante, for it to become a credible election.”

Earlier this year, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) said the 2022 elections will push through despite threats of the pandemic, and are looking into ways to keep voters safe when they cast their votes, like imposing strict health screenings and social distancing measures.

COMELEC also wanted only one person per precinct to vote at a time, its spokesman James Jimenez said, which might extend the voting period to 12 hours from the usual eight.

However, exacerbating the problem are the public’s concern over the vaccines’ safety, of which 69 percent said they were unsure. In addition, 12 percent do not even believe that they are at all effective. Only 35 percent are decidedly willing to get vaccinated.

“My fear is that if we are unable to meet our target by the end of the year, this does not only pose a bigger threat to the health, safety and lives of our people, and our economy, but also to our electoral system,” Zubiri said.

If the pandemic persists until May 2022, he advised COMELEC to set proper health protocols in election sites through resolutions, and pass laws extending the period of elections beyond one day to prevent overcrowding in the precincts.

But he insisted that vaccination is the most important.

“Huwag sana nating hayaang maidagdag pa ang pagkamatay ng ating demokrasya at right of suffrage sa mga biktima ng COVID-19,” Zubiri said.

As of June, the Philippines is on track to record 61 million voters before the deadline of registration on September 30. In light of the pandemic that kept people from going to Comelec offices, the commission extended office hours and launched a mobile app available in the offices. (MM)

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