Thursday, May 27, 2010

Gonzalez files election protest

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

POSSIBLE manipulation of voting machines, misreading of ballots and missing votes are the justifications presented by the camp of former Sec. Raul M. Gonzalez Sr. in their election protest filed with the Commission on Elections.

Gonzalez’s petition, docketed as Election Case No. EPC No. 2010-52, asked the Comelec to conduct a manual recount of the mayoral election in Iloilo City.

The petition also pressed for the annulment of the proclamation of mayor-elect Jed Patrick Mabilog and the holding of a special election in Iloilo City if the alleged electoral fraud is proven.

Gonzalez also asked the poll body to issue a restraining order or preliminary injunction against Mabilog while the election protest is being deliberated.

Gonzalez filed his petition with the Comelec on May 24, 2010 through lawyer Eugenio Original.

Mabilog won the mayoralty race with 80,654 votes. Gonzalez obtained 65,509 votes.

In a copy of the petition obtained by The Daily Guardian, Gonzalez claimed that the compact flash cards (CFC) of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines used in 344 precincts in Iloilo City were either switched or pre-programmed in favor of Mabilog and his group.

Gonzalez also claimed that election rules were violated after 229 of the 344 CFCs were physically brought to the canvassing area instead of being electronically transmitted.

The election officers also committed violations when they transported the cards sans watchers and security personnel.

Original said they also learned that some election inspectors even brought the cards to their homes.

“They only brought the cards to the canvassing area after the city board of canvassers summoned them,” Original said.

The election returns generated by the PCOS machines are also being questioned as these were printed on unauthorized white thermal papers without the official Comelec seal.

Gonzalez also pointed out that many voters were disenfranchised because of long lines at voting centers last May 10.

Original said they suspect that the PCOS machines may have misread the ballots. He also pointed out that the election returns for Bo. Obrero in Lapuz, LaPaz district were printed as early as December 31, 2009.

Gonzalez also assailed the irreconcilable number of actual votes cast with that of the actual results in the mayoral race.

Based on the statement of votes from the board of canvassers, a total of 193,153 voters cast their ballots on election day. The same number of ballots was recorded with no invalid votes reported.

But Gonzalez said the total votes of all five mayoral candidates totaled 184,942, which is 8,301 votes less compared to the actual votes cast.

Original said the board of canvassers cannot account the missing 8,301 votes as the poll body said there was no invalid vote monitored during the elections.

“These missing 8,301 votes could have been shaved by the machines from the votes of Sec. Gonzalez and credited to Mabilog. If that is the case, Sec. Gonzalez should have won the election by a slim margin of 1,448 votes which is probable considering that Mabilog was ahead in all pre-election surveys,” Original said.

Original also showed a video clip from the US showing how a computer expert reconfigured the compact flash card of a voting machine to manipulate the actual results.

The lawyer said the election protest does not mean that the Gonzalezes are sourgraping.

“They just want to know what happened to the automated elections. Sec. Gonzalez even said that if there are no proofs of fraud in the initial stages of the manual recount, he will drop the case,” Original said.

Original also denied the allegations of a transport group that he is behind the signature campaign mounted by Gonzalez supporters demanding for a manual recount in Iloilo City.

“That petition is not the proper procedure to tackle this issue. An election protest is the right way of asking for a recount. And the barangay captains are the not the right personalities to initiate such recount because they are not the candidates. As a lawyer, I don’t believe and agree with that signature campaign. Definitely, I have nothing to do with any signature campaign,” he said.

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