New petition to compel Comelec to issue vote receipts filed in SC
Another petition has been filed asking the Supreme Court (SC) to order the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to enable the receipt-printing feature of the vote-counting machines for the May 9 elections.
In a 16-page petition filed on Friday by senatorial candidate Greco Antonious Belgica and lawyers Glenn Chong and Manuelito Luna, they told the high court that the Comelec should activate the voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) as well as other security features and safeguards to ensure an honest and credible election.
The petitioners said Comelec “has been unlawfully neglecting its duty to enable the VVPAT, print voting receipts on Election Day, as well as make provision for an on-screen verification of votes, and to fully comply with the minimum system capabilities and other safeguards of the [Automated Election System].”
Sections 6, 11, 24 and 25 of Republic Act No. 8436 or the Automated Election Law requires the Comelec to comply with the minimum system capabilities and safeguards for a transparent elections. These, according to petitioners, include the enabling of the VVPAT.
“Surprisingly, Comelec has failed to ensure that the AES meets these functional capabilities, as well as other safeguards (under the automation law) … Suffice it to state that Comelec is in gross violation of the AES Law for its decision not to enable the VVPAT, coupled with its noncompliance with the minimum system capabilities requirement and other safeguards mandated by the AES Law,” the petition read.
This is the second petition filed with the high court regarding the VVPAT. Earlier, another senatorial candidate, Richard Gordon, author of the Automated Election Law, filed a similar petition. The high court, during its Tuesday en banc session, directed the Comelec to respond to Gordon’s petition within a nonextendible period of five days. RC
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