SWS: Fewer vote-buying, other poll-related irregularities in 2019 polls

MANILA, Philippines — Fewer Filipinos claimed they personally engaged in vote-buying and other election-related irregularities in the 2019 polls, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey revealed Wednesday.

In the latest survey conducted from June 22 to 26, those who personally witnessed vote-buying and other irregularities was at 10 percent, down from the 19 percent last recorded in June 2016.

Meanwhile, 2 percent of Filipinos said they personally witnessed the harassment of voters. This number also dipped compared to the 4 percent recorded in 2016.

One percent of Filipinos said they witnessed cheating in the counting of votes, and 1 percent also said they witnessed bribery during the past national elections.

Asked about what problems they have encountered that pertained to voting, 53 percent of Filipinos said they witnessed long lines, while 16 percent said the vote-counting machines (VCM)  malfunctioned.

Among other problems that voters encountered was the VCM not read their ballots (4 percent),  as well as having experienced violence in the voting centers (3 percent) and not seeing their names in the voters’ list (3 percent). Meanwhile, 1 percent said they encountered other problems.

On the other hand, 35 percent of respondents answered that they did not encounter any problem while voting, while 1 percent did not answer.

The survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide, having 300 respondents each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The survey also had sampling error margins of ±3 percent for national percentages. /muf