(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on November 04, 2020 shows (from top to bottom, left to right column) a man drops off his mail-in-ballot at a dropbox in Salt Lake City, Utah, on October 29, 2020; ballots are seen before counting at Northampton County Courthouse on November 3, 2020 in Easton, Pennsylvania; an electoral worker processes ballots at Northampton County Courthouse on November 3, 2020 in Easton, Pennsylvania; sorted vote-by-mail ballots at the King County Elections office in Renton, Washington on November 3, 2020; ballots being processed at Northampton County Courthouse on November 3, 2020 in Easton, Pennsylvania; election workers count absentee ballots for the 2020 general election at the TCF Center on November 4, 2020 in Detroit, Michigan; a police officer stands guard as election workers count absentee ballots for the 2020 general election in Detroit, Michigan; and an election worker processes mail-in ballots at the election office in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 29,2020. (Photo by AFP)
MANILA, Philippines — A congressman has immediately ditched the idea of letting the Philippine Postal Corp. (PhilPost) get involved should the country adopt a mail-in voting system in the 2022 elections.
Agusan del Norte Rep. Lawrence Fortun said that the “current state of Philpost and postal service nationwide does not inspire confidence” even if he agrees that voting by mail is worth considering given the ongoing pandemic.
“Voting by mail would be best for senior citizens, absentee voting, and for voters on remote islands, coastal areas, and hardly accessible highlands,” Fortun said in a statement.
He pointed out that mail-in voting should be efficiently implemented and that effective measures must be put in place to ensure the integrity of the elections.
Fortun then noted that PhilPost is “an institution too vulnerable to political influence at the national and local levels.”
Thus, “offhand, I reject the idea of involving the Philippine Postal Corporation in the possible adoption of voting by mail,” he said.
According to Fortun, there has been a “considerable decline” in PhilPost’s services amid technology advancement. So, he urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to be careful about its consideration of postal mail for the 2022 polls.
“Maghinay-hinay sana ang Comelec sa pagkonsidera sa postal mail bilang pamamaraan dahil alam naman nating hindi naman kagandahan ang serbisyo ng Philpost. Kahit mismong taumbayan ang tanungin, mas tiwala pa sila sa private courier services,” Fortun said.
(Comelec should be careful in considering postal mail as means for elections because we know that the services of Philpost are not that good. Even if we ask the public, they trust private courier services more.)
“The Comelec already has a good working history with private courier services with national coverage, ample security, and GPS tracking. These courier services are in a much better position to assure the country of the secure and timely transport of ballots and election materials,” he added.
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” for the country.