MANILA, Philippines – The implementation of the first internet voting mechanism in a Philippine election is off to a rocky start as Filipino community leaders in several countries bemoaned the late release of the enrollment link, technical issues, and what they see as a lack of awareness about the overseas election.
Pre-enrollment, the first step for Filipinos registered to vote overseas in posts assigned to internet voting, was meant to begin on Thursday, March 20. It had already been postponed from March 10 “per request” of Philippine consular posts abroad, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
However, it effectively began Saturday, March 22, as the Comelec only released the link to pre-enroll late Saturday evening, Manila time.
As of 9 am on Tuesday, March 25, at least 6,863 overseas Filipinos have been able to pre-enroll, according to the Comelec.
The month-long period for overseas Filipinos to cast their votes is from April 13 to May 12, while pre-enrollment is open until May 7.
Late link, initial tech issues
Filipinos abroad were dismayed at how the release of the link was delayed despite Comelec Chairman George Garcia confirming that pre-enrollment began on Thursday.
“Paano magkakaroon ng kapanatagan sa pagboto ang overseas Filipinos eh late na nga ang information drive, late pa rin pati ang link? Mas nakakabahala pa na marami pa rin sa ating mga kababayan ay hindi alam na online na ang voting,” said Lai Besana, Bayan Muna Hong Kong spokesperson.
(How can overseas Filipinos be confident about voting when the information drive was late, and so was the link? It’s also worrying that many of our compatriots are still unaware that voting is now online.)
But even in the first hours after the link was released, Rappler monitored social media users, presumably overseas voters, who could not access it or had technical issues.
“I was able to start the enrollment process. But when it came to the identification process, [it was] connecting…forever. Used both Chrome and Safari,” said Karen, a member of the overseas-filipinos chat room on the Rappler Communities app.
However, still within the first hours, some users commented that they were able to complete the process.
Garcia explained in an interview with reporters on Monday, March 24, that the reason for the two-day delay was because of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) informing the commission of the need to undergo “full testing” due to possibilities of hacking.
“Minarapat po ng DICT na tingnan mabuti ang buong sistema at ‘yung mismong ilalabas natin na link upang ito ay hindi ma-intercept, o magagawan ng paraan, o magkakaroon ng irregularity kapag nailabas po natin ‘yan…. Ngayon po, mapagmamalaki namin, kahit i-attempt nilang gawin ‘yan, dahil dumaan ito sa DICT, ay hinding hindi nila ito maha-hack,” said Garcia.
(The DICT thoroughly looked at the whole system and the link we would release to make sure that it could not be intercepted, there could be no way to do so, and there would be no irregularity once we release it. Now, we are confident in saying that no matter how hard hackers try, because the system went through the DICT, they will never be able to hack it.)
Technical ‘gymnastics’
Apol Apuntar, a coordinator of Bayan Muna Canada, was able to pre-enroll, but not without having to figure out a way to make it work.
Apuntar said the link that was disseminated, https://ov.comelec.gov.ph/enroll, did not seem to work for members of his community if they clicked on it directly as it was shared on social media.
Some needed to copy and paste it into their browser, click the longer link that the disseminated link redirects to, or scan the QR code. The second way is how Apuntar was able to access the platform after someone else sent him the longer link.
“The process is smooth as long as you have with you the ID you need to authenticate your identity, and you’re in a well-lit place. I was also able to practice test voting,” he said in an interview with Rappler on Tuesday.
Marissa Corpus, spokesperson of Kontra Daya Canada, raised concerns about older voters who might not know how to navigate the technical issues.
“Pre-enrollment might be a problem for the elderly, and those who are not tech-savvy. That means that they have to go to the consulate personally to pre-enroll,” said Corpus.
Corpus was unable to pre-enroll because she did not have onhand an ID accepted by the system. The Philippine consulate in Toronto advised her to bring her dual citizenship certificate to the consulate — at least an hour’s drive away from her.
“We’ve observed that there is wide voter disenfranchisement because there are so many gymnastics that you have to do because the link might not be working,” said Ana Ilagan, vice chairperson of Anakbayan Canada.
Rafael Eubra Jr., deputy vice chair for overseas Filipino worker (OFW) affairs of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), also reported to Rappler that many of their community members in Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Finland, Italy, and Austria are “confused” about pre-enrollment or experienced technical issues with the process.
Low awareness, suggestion to vote in person
Ilagan said that when they went around the Filipino community in Winnipeg on March 17 and 18, they noticed that many were not even aware that the midterm elections were happening.
For those who are aware, some groups lack information about the new system. In a video Eubra sent to Rappler, a voter in New Zealand encouraged fellow Filipinos to ask the embassy to mail their ballots instead.
Speaking at a rally supporting former president Rodrigo Duterte — currently detained at the International Criminal Court in The Hague for alleged crimes against humanity — the voter said that the community should stick to postal voting, which it has done in past elections. The voter also expressed distrust in the system as she wants to ensure that her vote supporting PDP-Laban would not go to waste.
But switching modes is not possible, as the Comelec assigned modes of voting to each consular post. New Zealand is one of 77 posts implementing internet voting.
PDP-Laban-OFW Affairs is currently leading a petition to stop internet voting and revert to the old automated system. Although their group believes that internet voting is “unconstitutional,” Eubra said it should be done “physically at the embassies or consulates” if the Comelec insists on the method.
“Doing it online independently has no certainty it will be transmitted or counted. At least if they go to the consulates or embassies, people could watch and monitor the process,” added Eubra.
Responding to concerns about technical issues in the system, Garcia on Tuesday appealed for voters’ patience.
“Konting tiyaga lang po dahil may 7,000 na nga po na nakapag-try, at naging successful, at ngayon ay nagpa-practice at tuwang-tuwa, sapagkat nakuha na kaagad nila…’yung confirmation na sila ay… enrolled na para makaboto sa overseas voting natin gamit ang internet,” said the Comelec chairman.
(We ask for your perseverance in trying the system, since there are 7,000 who were able to try, be successful, and are happy in practicing voting, because they were immediately able to get confirmation that they were enrolled in the overseas voting using the internet.) – Rappler.com