Comelec impartiality TABLETS OF STONE Larry Faraon, OP 05/23/2010

Comelec impartiality

TABLETS OF STONE Larry Faraon, OP 05/23/2010 Comelec Commissioner Jose Melo should be more circumspect in dealing with the alleged complaints of election irregularities during the last May 10 political exercise. At the height of this week’s congressional committee on electoral reforms hearing, he sounded obviously defensive as if the automated elections were so impeccable and beyond reproach that no smudge should ever taint the immaculate purity of the automated elections. The way he rebuts the allegations bespeaks of a king who thought that the people would speak well of his clothes, even if he was wearing none! Comelec must realize that even if the automated elections were conveniently fast and easy, it was less democratic in a sense.  In a democratic society, the right to vote goes with the right to be counted, and in an automated election the assurance, real or even psychological, that an individual vote has been counted may be lesser, compared to the traditional manual count. That reassuring feeling should be provided by Comelec to the voters by taking electoral allegations of fraud more formally if not seriously. This is not the way we perceive this independent constitutional body overseeing the conduct of the most basic democratic exercise in this country. We see a Comelec to be an ultra-independent body whose ocular focus is not only on candidates and their respective qualifications, the manner and conduct of the elections, the operational and advocacy linkages, especially with the national and local governments, but most especially on the possible failure of elections either in toto or in specific areas due to massive vote buying, hostilities, violence, disenfranchisement, registration irregularities, canvassing, and illegal proclamation of winning candidates.... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100523com6.html

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