Comelec: Legitimate sample ballots okay
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has allowed candidates and their supporters to distribute sample ballots for the midterm elections on May 12, as long as they do not appear to have been issued by the poll body.
“We will not prohibit campaigning activities that can help in voter education among Filipinos. But don’t make it appear that what you are distributing are from the Comelec,” Comelec Chair George Garcia told reporters over the weekend.
He warned groups and individuals found to be using the Comelec seal and logo on their sample ballots would be prosecuted.
The statement came on Friday after the poll body received reports that companies are printing sample ballots, which are almost identical to the official ballots printed by the Comelec and were even using the government’s seal as well as the poll body’s logos for its voter education campaign.
Garcia said that these sample ballots could not be used on election day, saying the official ballots contain security features that only the vote-counting machines could read.
He also stressed that the distribution of sample ballots can only be done until May 10 and would become prohibited on May 11 and May 12, since it is a form of campaigning.
Garcia also warned candidates not to use minors to distribute these sample ballots.
With only 15 days remaining until May 12, the Comelec appeared ready for the exercise that will fill more than 18,000 positions across the country.
But Garcia earlier expressed concern over cyberattacks that started in March, specifically to assail the credibility of the poll body and the integrity of the May 12 elections.
Troll operations
After meeting with intelligence and security agencies, Garcia said “attacks directed against the Comelec using auto bots and troll farms to control the narratives by conditioning the minds of the people that they cannot trust the Comelec and the results of the elections.”
“This is so dangerous and worrisome especially if indeed the perpetrator is a foreign entity,” he told reporters as authorities continued their investigation.
The Comelec has noted that “thousands” of hacking attempts have been made on its online precinct finder, which contains information about the more than 68.6 million registered voters in the country.
Garcia described the modus operandi of troll farms, tasked to spread claims that the poll body was vulnerable to hacking and cheating during the elections.
“These keyboard warriors are employed to make sure that these fake news posts will be magnified and stay on the social media feed of Filipinos. It aims to influence, to dictate and to condition the minds of the people that the elections are not credible,” Garcia said.
“I assure the Filipinos that there will be no cheating in the upcoming elections. We have both local and foreign observers because we want to be transparent about our processes and preparations to ultimately improve our election system,” he added.
