Fearing vote buying, Comelec nixes receipts

Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista
INQUIRER PHOTO/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will not activate the voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT), particularly the tape receipt, one of the features of the vote counting machines (VCMs) which will be used in the May polls.

“We will not activate the VVPAT tape receipt as this has more disadvantages than advantages,” said Comelec Chair Andres Bautista.

The VVPAT pertains to the paper printout listing for whom the votes were cast.

“The advantage is you can see the accuracy of the votes cast. But it can be used in vote buying,” Bautista had said in a previous interview.

He, however, said that deliberations on whether or not to activate the VCM’s onscreen verification were in progress.

“We’re still open to it. In fact, there have been preliminary discussions about it,” Bautista said.

“The problem with the onscreen verification is the time and the privacy of the voters since the screen can be seen by other voters,” he said.

The onscreen verification allows voters to review their votes before these are counted.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez earlier explained that enabling the onscreen verification would entail an additional five hours for 600 voters per polling precinct, assuming that each voter will spend 30 seconds reviewing their ballot receipts onscreen.

It also takes approximately 13 seconds to print a tape receipt or equivalent to 2.1 hours if there are 600 voters. TVJ