Gov’t ready for mail-in voting in 2022, says Imee Marcos

MANILA, Philippines—Senator Imee Marcos said the government has the capability to pilot-test large scale mail-in voting come the 2022 National and which would then be translated into a bigger scope by 2025.

In a statement posted on the Senate’s official website, Marcos stressed her trust in the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost), which is expected to launch its computerized mail management system within the first quarter of 2021 and complete the upgrade before the May 2022 elections.

“We can’t give up without trying at least a few times. Maybe we can pilot in a few manageable areas in 2022, with the hope of expanding voting by post by 2025,” said Marcos. “While we are all nervous about mail-in ballots, never having experienced an election by post, I think testing the capacity of Philpost will be a worthwhile effort.”

Mail-in voting became the turning point of the 2020 United States presidential election with Democrat candidate Joe Biden ultimately unseating Donald Trump (Rep.) through the surge of the sent-in votes.

To assure Marcos’ trust, PHLPost’s Corporate Officer-in-Charge Joel Zamudio said the government’s postal service “confident that it can meet the delivery requirements” if the mail-in voting process is indeed included as an option in 2022.

Marcos added that PHLPost has already worked with the Commission on Elections in the past during overseas absentee voting in 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 sending the ballots and other materials to and from Philippine embassies and consulates around the world, allowing Filipinos to cast in their votes.

“Certainly, pilot-testing on a larger scale to also include senior citizens, pregnant women, PWDs and IPs (indigenous peoples) will need support from the national budget for 2022,” said Marcos, the chair of the Senate committee on electoral reforms. [ac]