Variables caps Philippine political landscape
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It is just one day to go before Philippines' national elections, once every six years, four major issues that may affect the elections are still in the balance.
Whether automated voting system works
The Philippines is to undertake its first automated national elections on May 10, with vote-counting machines said to be able to handle 70 percent of the ballots before midnight of the election day and give the unofficial results within 48 hours as the traditional manual count usually lasted two to three weeks.
However, the recent glitch in the automated voting system has fueled disputes between supporters and opponents of the system as skeptics feared of an inaccurate vote count. Some even suggested a parallel counting.
During final tests early this week, the Commission on Elections discovered a problem with the memory cards of some precinct count optical scan (PCOS) that failed to properly read the votes for local races because of a difference in the layouts of the national and local ballots, prompting a recall of the cards in 7,600 machines deployed across the country.
The president's election lawyer Romulo Macalintal called for postponing the election by 15 days last Tuesday, saying " postponement of election is the only remedy to prevent a failure of election."
But deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar said the comments issued by Macalintal should not be attributed to President Arroyo. The Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) also vowed to maintain scheduled automated voting.
"It's a human error and we don't deny it. What is important is that we have resolved it, "said Cesar Flores, president of Smartmatic-TIM, referring to the technical glitches.
Can survey results be turned into reality?
The latest survey conducted by Social Weather Station on May 2 and May 3 showed Liberal Party candidate Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III got a 42 percent preference rate, 22 percent ahead of former President Joseph Estrada, who got 20 percent.
A nother poll body Pulse Asia said four in every 10 Filipinos support Aquino III. His two major rivals Estrada and Manuel Villar Jr. had a supporting rate of 20 percent each.
Local analysts said these surveys can only be used as a reference. They are not necessarily to become the election results, as these surveys exclude certain elements such as the response of the poor and those who live in remote areas, and the role of the church. It is uncertain who will these people support.
