Namfrel veering away from election ‘quick counts’

MANILA, Philippines - Poll watchdog Namfrel, or the National Citizens Movement for Free Elections, is veering away from its usual operation quick count and now plans to audit elections results. Newly appointed Namfrel chairman Henrietta de Villa said that while quick count operations is what the group had been known for, it is also important that it adopts a new direction that will go along with the Commission on Election’s (Comelec) automation efforts. “Namfrel should repackage itself from conducting the Operation Quick Count, for which Namfrel became famous, to having an external manual audit role," De Villa said. She said there is enough legal ground to adopt a manual auditing of the elections based on the Section 24 of Republic Act 9369 or the poll automation law. The law states that where the automated election system is used, a random manual audit in one precinct per congressional district randomly chosen by the Comelec in each province and city shall be conducted. “Any difference between the automated and manual count will result in the determination of root cause and initiate a manual count for those precincts affected by the computer or procedural error", the law says. De Villa, who also heads the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), said she is hopeful that the Comelec will include such activity in its General Instructions for the ARMM elections to enable Namfrel volunteers to pursue their mission of ensuring clean, credible and honest elections. In August, the Comelec is to hold the country’s first fully automated elections by using the Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) and Optical Mark Reader (OMR) systems in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The PPCRV had earlier clinched the official accreditation from the Comelec to become its official citizen’s partner for the regional elections. De Villa replaced Vicente Jayme, who took over the reins from founding chair Jose Concepcion Jr., just weeks before the May 2007 national elections. De Villa was “unanimously voted" by the Namfrel National Council and was given a free hand to re-organize the group, according to Namfrel Secretary-General Eric Alvia. Jayme called for full support for De Villa “as she steers Namfrel in its new role in the light of the automated elections and in the realization of meaningful electoral reforms." – GMANews.TV