Namfrel gets ‘partial’ Comelec accreditation for May polls
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2019 08:43:11 +0000
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) “partially” accredited watchdog National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) as its citizen arm in the polls in May.
In its Minute Resolution 19-0351, the Comelec en banc made Namfrel a participant in the Random Manual Audit (RMA) and allowed it to monitor the automated election system (AES).
The poll watchdog, however, lamented that it has yet to receive accreditation for its Open Election Data project which it would use as an “almost” real-time transmission and tabulation site of election results.
“If we don’t get the accreditation for the Open Election Data project, we have to outsource data from other organizations. That would be difficult for us,” said Namfrel National Chairman Augusto Lagman, a former Comelec commissioner.
The Open Election Data is a website on candidates’ profiles, tabulation of election returns, list of voters, transparency and media servers, among other information.
Namfrel national treasurer Lito Averia Jr., who heads the project, said the accreditation was only “partial” as the organization had sought Comelec approval to run the site as a cluster to the initial accreditation.
“We have no clue why the accreditation [for the Open Election Data project] was delayed,” Averia said, citing Comelec’s Minute Resolution dated March 29.
Namfrel, which claims to be the first citizen-led monitoring group in the world, had to wait for more than three months to be accredited as the Comelec citizens’ arm.
Aviera said it would still push for the project and access to election data, as the Comelec needed to know whether the automated voting system had glitches.
“We will still push [for it]. We [need] to gain new insight on election management, increase voter participation and citizen engagement… The poll body also needs to know how the automated system is performing come election day,” he said.
Namfrel is seeking the support of some 50,000 volunteers to monitor election activities in more than 85,000 clustered polling precincts before, during and after election day. NEIL JAYSON N. SERVALLOS
The post Namfrel gets ‘partial’ Comelec accreditation for May polls appeared first on The Manila Times Online.