Namfrel: A Backgrounder

ABOUT NAMFREL * Non-partisan, nationwide organization of volunteers working for the cause of free, orderly and honest elections * Composed of individual citizens and civic, religious, professional, business, labor, educational, youth and non-government organizations * Formally organized in October 1983 * Precursors: Operations Registration Committee (1957); Citizens National Electoral Assembly, New Voters Registration Committee, Citizens National Electoral Assembly, National Citizens Constitutional Convention Movement (NCCM), Citizens National Committee for Referenda, Plebiscites and Elections (1960s-1970s) NAMFREL'S ROLE * To assist Comelec in the conduct of voter information programs * To monitor the conduct of voting and counting of the ballots and the canvassing of votes * To conduct the Operation Quick Count (unofficial count) * Namfrel volunteers have also worked as trainers, election observers, election administrators and resource persons in other countries "The acronym Namfrel came about in a natural progression from the original NCMFE, which was difficult to enunciate, and the subsequent NACFREL, which although easier to say, did not sound right." -- Namfrel Organizing Manual NAMFREL PARTICIPATION IN PAST ELECTIONS * Batasang Pambansa elections in 1984 * Snap presidential election in 1986 * ARMM elections in 1990 and 1996 * Presidential elections in 1992, 1998, and 2004 * Congressional and local elections in 1988, 1995 and 2001 * Others o National plebiscite on the 1987 Constitution (1987) o Plebiscite on the Organic Act of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (1990) o Plebiscite on the Organic Act of the Cordillera Autonomous Region (1990) ISSUES: NAMFREL MENTIONED IN "HELLO, GARCI" CONVERSATIONS Namfrel was mentioned in the Hello Garci conversations that became a controversy in 2005. According to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, which transcribed the recordings, the purpose of the conversation appears to be to assuage President Arroyo's worry that the vote padding would be discovered if the Namfrel documents did not tally with the certificates of canvass. (PCIJ) from PCIJ's transcript of the Hello Garci conversations: Conversation between Gary (believed to be V. Garcillano) and an unidentified female (believed to be President Arroyo) on 31 23:17 May 2004 Garcillano: Hello, ma’am. GMA: Hello, tsaka ano yung kabila, they’re trying to get the Namfrel copies of the Municipal COCs. Garcillano: Namfrel copies ho? GMA: Uhm-um. Garcillano: Ay wala naman, ok naman ang Namfrel sa atin. They are now sympathetic to us. GMA (mumbling): Oo, oo. Pero (garbled)...and Namfrel does not tally. Pero yun nga, yung dagdag, yung dagdag. Garcillano: Oho, we will get an advance copy ho natin kung anong hong kwan nila. GMA: Oo, oo. Garcillano: Sige po. In a commentary, Namfrel national chairman Jose Concepcion Jr. denied that Namfrel is sympathetic to any particular candidate: "We are sympathetic to the voter and simply want to ensure that his or her vote is counted properly. Our record in the last 20 years speaks for itself." (BusinessWorld) ISSUES REGARDING THE 2004 QUICK COUNT OPERATION * "Slow" Quick Count due to SMS problem. Namfrel originally intended to use an SMS system for reporting election results. However, this bogged down, and Namfrel had to shift back to e-mail and internet-based transmission. The problem set back the quick count by 2-3 days. The SMS problem stemmed from mismatched precinct numbers. Namfrel used data from the Comelec Central Office as basis for its SMS database; volunteers in the field relied on data from Comelec's local offices. As it turned out, the Central Office masterlist was inconsistent with that of the local offices. There were cases when Namfrel's database failed to recognize the precinct numbers cited in the text messages from volunteers. In its terminal report, Namfrel said that the SMS problem accounted for 80% of the perceived delay in its quick count. * Only 83% tabulated. Namfrel was able to tabulate only 82.98% of the election returns it received in the 2004 elections. Namfrel reasoned that some returns were either unreadable, contained errors, missing key information, or were missing pages. * Poll fraud cover up. IT expert and Coalition for Hope election watch volunteer Roberto Verzola came out with papers in 2005 and 2006 analyzing Namfrel's Quick Count during the 2004 Elections. Verzola claimed that Namfrel showed bias in favor of President Arroyo, and that the election watchdog took part in covering up poll fraud. EXCERPT FROM ROBERTO VERZOLA'S ANALYSIS OF NAMFREL'S 2006 VALIDATION REPORT May 10, 2006 Conclusion This paper finds clear indications that key Namfrel officials engaged in the following: 1. Selective tabulation – GMA regions were tallied more completely than FPJ regions, which biased their tally in favor of GMA and increased her apparent lead over FPJ; 2. Tabulation of spurious returns – Highly questionable reports were included in their Report #83/83v, which further increased GMA's apparent lead over FPJ; 3. Withholding of precinct breakdowns – The regional breakdown of the number of precincts tallied was withheld in 71 of their 83 reports, which prevented the public from determining the full extent of the selective tabulation and the inclusion of spurious returns; 4. Misreporting of precinct counts – The number of precincts tallied in #83v was misreported in some areas, which altered completion rates and masked the full extent of the selective tabulation; and 5. Ignoring indications of cheating – Significant discrepancies between their tally and the official one, indicating cheating mostly in favor of GMA, were ignored, which denied the public important information about electoral fraud in the 2004 presidential elections. NAMFREL SECRETARIAT 6/F RFM Corporate Center Pioneer cor. Sheridan Streets Mandaluyong City Tel. Nos. 6310141, 6310078 6345136 (fax)