‘Easiest to cheat:’ Sotto thumbs down mail-in voting for PH 2022 elections

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Vicente Sotto III has opposed a mail-in ballot system for the 2022 national elections, saying that it is the “easiest system of voting to cheat.”

“I’m not in favor,” Sotto said in a message to reporters on Monday.

He was asked if he thinks that the mail-in voting system applied in the US 2020 presidential elections will work in the Philippines, should there be lingering fears of COVID-19 transmission come 2022.

“Sino tatanggap? Nationwide? Saan padadala, [sa] post Office? Kailan bibilangin? Sino bibilang?” the Senate president said in a separate message.

(Who will receive the ballots? Nationwide? Where will the voters mail their ballots, in post offices? When will the votes be counted, who will count them?)

“Paano kung may mag leak ng results whether true or fake? Any of those procedures can be cheated!” he added.

(What if someone leaks the results whether true or fake? Any of those procedures can be cheated!)

‘Not so keen’ Drilon

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon also opposed the mail-in voting system, expressing apprehension that the Philippines would be able to adopt such a mode of voting.

“I am not so keen nor am I convinced that our system can adapt to a mail-in voting system. We do not have the infrastructure needed to assure our people that the voting by mail will reflect the true intent of our people,” Drilon told reporters in an online interview.

“There are even complaints about rampant vote buying and intimidation in a system where only personal voting is allowed,” he added.

Further, he said mail-in voting would be “difficult to monitor.”

“You can imagine the kinds of complaints we will get in voting by mail,” he said.

“Our current system simply does not permit voting my mail as a process that will accurately reflect the will of the people. I am opposed to it at this time. We can look at it again in the future,” he added.

Several media networks in the United States have reported that Democrat candidate Joe Biden, a former vice president, has captured the presidency, ending the term of Republican President Donald Trump.

Before this, Trump unleashed a tirade of unsubstantiated claims that he has been cheated out of winning the US election.

Trump accused Democrats of using “illegal votes” to “steal the election from us.”

Trump’s complaints were specifically targeting the integrity of the huge number of ballots mailed in, rather than cast in person on Election Day.

The big shift to postal ballots this year reflected the desire of voters to avoid risking exposure to COVID-19 in crowded polling stations during the pandemic. With a report from Agence France-Presse