Kapunan hits Comelec: Delay in polls will stir chaos, civil unrest

Senatorial candidate Atty. Lorna Kapunan on Thursday shared a grim vision of the country’s political scene should the scheduled May 9 elections will be postponed.

Kapunan, in a media forum, said that any delay in the elections will sow chaos and invite civil unrest.

“If we don’t have elections on May 9, I think we will have civil unrest. If there is a delay in the polls, some people would say ‘we should just do away with the elections.’ You are fomenting conflict. You are inviting civil unrest,” she told reporters at the Kamuning Bakery’s pandesal forum.

READ: Palace expects Comelec compliance amid possible postponement of elections

Kapunan reacted to reports that the Commission on Elections is not ruling out the possibility that elections might be postponed due to the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision ordering the poll body to issue voting receipts.

The decision, which was penned by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, said that the Comelec cannot set aside the requirements provided for in Republic Act 9369 which also introduced the voter verification paper audit trail or VVPAT.

“We see no reason why voters should be denied the opportunity to read the voter’s receipt after casting his or her ballot. There is no legal prohibition for the Comelec to require that after the voter reads and verifies the receipt, he or she is to leave it in a separate box, not take it out of the precinct,” the high court said.

READ: SC orders Comelec to issue vote receipts

The senatorial candidate said that she is in favor of the high court’s decision, saying that the Comelec should activate all the features of the vote counting machines, which include the VVPAT.

“They should know. It’s (VVPAT) in the law. Dapat alam niyo. Nasa batas yan eh. Why did you plan on not using it. You should have planned on using it. Ensuring the conduct of the elections is their (Comelec) sole job yet you can’t even do it?” Kapunan said. CDG

RELATED STORIES
Electoral reform before printing of receipts–Comelec

Comelec OKs on-screen vote confirmation, but not receipt