Macalintal urges Comelec to immediately probe alleged Precinct Finder issues

Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal on Monday called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to immediately investigate and verify complaints regarding the poll body’s online Precinct Finder, saying it may cause a “massive disenfranchisement” of voters in the Eleksyon 2022.

In a press conference, Macalintal said he personally received complaints from registered voters who discovered that their status on the Precinct Finder are either not found, deactivated, or under/for review.

He pointed out that among those who messaged him was former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban who showed him a screenshot that there was “no record found” of his voter registration despite being able to vote in the past elections.

Macalintal then expressed concern for the four million young voters who might lose interest to vote due to the confusion brought by the glitch in the Precinct Finder.

“Greatly affected by this development or apparent ineffectiveness and confusion by Comelec’s Precinct Finder are the four million young voters who registered for and will vote for the first time in the May 2022 elections. Since they have not received any confirmation from the Comelec regarding their application for registration, any wrong information from the Precinct Finder on the status of their registration might cause their massive disenfranchisement,” he said.

“Anumang maling information mula sa Precinct Finder ay maaaring maging dahilan upang mawalan sila ng ganang bumoto o hindi na magpunta sa presinto sa paniniwalang hindi pa sila rehistrado,” he added.

(Any incorrect information from Precinct Finder may cause them to lose interest in voting or not to go to the precinct believing that they are not yet registered.)

Macalintal then urged the poll body to immediately check such reports and advise the electorate why it was happening to assure them that they could still vote amid the “seeming confusion” brought about by the Precinct Finder system.

Comelec Commissioner George Garcia on Monday admitted they have been receiving similar complaints from voters who claimed they voted in the previous elections. He said the Comelec would issue a clarification regarding the matter.

In a message to GMA News Online, Garcia said the Comelec is now distributing the Voters Information Sheet (VIS) which contains the record of voters and their respective voting center for the 2022 elections.

“Wait for it and expect it,” he said.

Garcia also confirmed that the VIS could be used as proof that a voter is registered in a particular precinct even if one finds error on the Precinct Finder.

“Yes po at sure po na ‘yung list sa precinct niya ay mag-tally sa VIS niya (they could be assured that the list in their precinct will tally with their VIS,” he added.

Macalintal further advised all concerned and affected voters who encountered problems on the Precinct Finder to proceed to the office of their local election officer or the bulletin board of their city or municipal hall where the Certified List of Voters should have been posted at least 90 days before Election Day or since February 8, 2022.

Comelec previously reported that it has deactivated 7,229,493 individuals who failed to vote in two successive preceding elections as shown in their voting records.

A total of 755,769 names on the registration records have also been canceled due to death, they added.—AOL, GMA News