Comelec to put up voting booths in select malls for 2016 polls 

The Commission on Elections will allow voting in malls in 2016, its chairman said Saturday, adding convenience and airconditioning could raise voter turnout and reduce election-related stress.

 

"Napansin ko, yung mga Filipino, if you put them in a place na maayos, they tend to behave accordingly. Pero kapag nilalagay mo sila sa mga place na magugulo, manggugulo rin sila," Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said at the launch of Comelec's satellite registration services at Robinsons Place Manila.

 

"I think that our voters will behave better if they vote in nice surroundings," he added.

 

Bautista said mall amenities, such as air conditioning, food courts, and stable electricity will improve the experience of voters who will cast their ballots in the 63-sq m rooms that will be used for the polls.

 

The mall polling sites will also help reduce the number of voters per precinct and decongest public schools.

 

"Ang daming ills of election na puwede mong ma-mitigate: vote buying, violence, issues of impatience... Ang AFP at PNP, we can deploy them in the malls... I don't think security will be an issue," he said.

 

The Comelec chairman hopes voters in remote provinces will also experience the "convenience of voting in the malls", but clarified that no far-flung precincts will be forced to move to shopping centers.

 

Comelec will finalize the exact number of precincts that will be transferred to malls by Nov. 7.

 

Until then, mallgoers may have their biometric data taken on the weekends in designated areas around the shopping center.

 

'No Bio, No Boto'

 

Around 4.3 million registered voters have yet to have their biometric data taken, but Bautista expects the number to decrease by Comelec's next update on July 27.

 

"Marami dun baka patay na. Or madami doon, double registrants. You've got to remember: Ano bang pakay ng ating Biometrics Law? It's to clean the voter's list," he said.

 

Bautista also clarified that Comelec's "No Bio No Boto" campaign merely implements Republic Act 10367 or An Act Providing for Mandatory Biometrics Voter Registration.
 

"Sinusunod lang ng Comelec ang batas... Kung talaga sa tingin nila mali sa batas, ang kanilang lunas ay pumunta sa Korte Suprema at sabihing unconstitutional yung batas," he said.

 

Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal earlier commented that the move to block voters who haven't updated their biometrics had no basis in RA 10367.

 

"Ang batas naman ang nagsasabi na as long as you are registered (you can vote). It does not make any distinction if you are registered under the automated election or under the manual election," Macalintal said on GMA News TV's "Saksi" on June 30. — JDS, GMA News