BOTO MO, BANTAYAN MO: CITIZENS’ VOTE WATCH
The country has over 67.5 million registered voters and turnout is expected to be high in the May 2022 elections.
What must we do to protect our votes? What preparations are being done by election officials in case of a power outage, technical glitch, or even the tampering of vote-counting machines? What do we need to look out for?
These and other questions will be answered on Wednesday, April 13 in “Boto Mo, Bantayan Mo: Citizens’ Vote Watch,” the ninth webinar under the National Forum on Communication and Democracy: Philippine Elections 2022 series, organized by the Philippines Communication Society (PCS) in cooperation with the University of the Philippines’ Internet TV Network, TVUP.
The Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE), one of the election watchdogs that will join the PCS webinar, has listed down seven steps to protect one’s vote on the day of fulfilling our civic duty.
- First, voters should look in advance for their precincts either online (through the online precinct finder of the COMELEC and DICT) or by personally going to the local Commission on Elections (COMELEC) office, said LENTE executive director Atty. Rona Caritos.
- Second, voters should know that they are allowed to vote even beyond the voting hours of 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., as long as they are still waiting in line at 7 p.m.
- Third, since this is an in-person election, face masks are a must.
- Fourth, voters should bring their cheat sheet or kodigo—the list of the candidates they will be voting for.
- Fifth, ballots should be blank and clean; voters should double-check their ballots for any marks.
- Sixth, voters should use a ballot secrecy folder where no one would be able to see their votes.
- Seventh, they must check the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), which is printed after the ballot is inserted into the vote-counting machine, for discrepancies. If there is a discrepancy, voters can complain before the election board. They will then be instructed to affix their ballot to the back of the VVPAT.
The webinar and online forum, to be moderated by veteran journalist and Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) co-founder Malou Mangahas, will be held via Zoom and broadcast live on the Facebook pages of PCS and TVUP and on TVUP’s YouTube channel at 12 noon on April 13, 2022.
Join Atty. Rona Caritos of LENTE Philippines, Augusto Lagman of National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections, Paco Pagalangan of Democracy Watch PH, and Dr. Arwin Serrano of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting as they discuss how one can guard the vote and protect democracy.
To register for the free webinar, visit https://tinyurl.com/PCSForum9. For more information, email info@philscomsoc.org, or visit the PCS website, https://www.philscomsoc.org, Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/philscomsoc) and follow updates on Twitter (https://twitter.com/philscomsoc).