Press Release
March 7, 2009

Automation is our best hope for clean and credible polls in 2010 - Gordon

Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon today expressed optimism that the automation of the May 2010 elections would pave the way for credible, orderly, and clean electoral system the nation has long dreamt of.

Gordon, author of Republic Act (RA) 9369 or the amended Automated Elections System Law, said it would be best to give the automation of the 2010 elections a fair chance for the sake of the general health of the country's democracy.

"We have come a long way in fighting for the automation of our country's electoral system that would protect and safeguard the sacrosanct votes of our people against wholesale cheating," he said.

"We know we still have a long way to go, but it is unfair to deny every Filipino the dream and opportunity of seeing a clean, orderly, honest and credible election during his lifetime. Automation is a step towards the right direction," he added.

According to the senator, the law he has authored is technologically-neutral and since it entails less human intervention, many unscrupulous individuals would not longer have the chance to rig and steal the election results again.

He also pointed out that RA 9369 provides for a voter-verified paper audit trail which would allay voters' fear that the election results could be manipulated since there would be no physical means to verify and track down the results.

RA 9369 amended RA 8436 which authorized the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to use an automated election system in the 1998 national elections to encourage transparency, credibility, fairness and accuracy of elections.

To ensure the automation of the 2010 elections prescribed by the said law, Congress passed the P11.3-billion supplemental budget that the Comelec needed for a full automation.

With the necessary funding now approved, Gordon said the Comelec has no more reason not to implement the automation as long as it keeps its timetable to prepare for it, including the training and education of teachers and voters.

The senator also pointed out that it would be unwise to go back to the antiquated manual elections and the massive cheating that spurs divisiveness in the country after every elections when the country has the chance to automate the elections.

"If halcyon days are to return, it seems clear we would need more help to make sure that the country's electoral system is automated than waste this great opportunity by going back to manual counting, and be relegated to the dustbin of history," he said.

Gordon stressed that the success of the August 2008 automated elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) only proves that Filipinos are not only ready for automation but excited to move on towards the imperatives of modern democracy.

"Instead of tying one arm behind our backs as we have been for so long, we need to ensure that our hard labor shall bear the fruits of democracy. We have faith that with political will, the automation of the 2010 elections will make us strong as a nation and as a people," he said.

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