Filipinos are taking small steps towards digital democracy by using computers to facilitate registration and balloting.
The on-site imaging tools simplify data capture by using scanners to get voters' thumb marks and signature while a digicam takes their pictures. The system, costing about $1,2000 apiece if taken from off-the-shelf parts, is designed to have a back-up facility.
This allows the system to avoid a disaster in case of a breakdown of the primary storage device.
"Politics is the national past time of Filipinos. It is said that we only have three seasons in the Philippines rainy days, sunny days and election days. With Filipinos overseas now allowed to vote, we hope it would help improve our bitter experience with democracy," said Jovi Neri, President of Bicol Anom, one of the two dozen Filipino organisations in the UAE.
It is not clear if the data capture machine could prevent 'flying registrants' or fraud by any organised group. Officials here said the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) will have no reason to engage in any organised election fraud by using multiple identities because it may also land them in trouble in a foreign land and jeopardise their jobs.
In the UAE, estimates about the population vary widely between 8,000 to 80,000 Filipinos in Dubai and the Northern Emirates who are expected to sign up as absentee voters using the computerised registration facility.
In Dubai alone, 10 staff members will be on-hand during the two-month registration period that ends on September 30. Officials expect Fridays to be a busy day at the diplomatic missions as they expect Filipinos to take advantage of their day offs to register.
The Philippines Commission on Elections (Comelec) has deployed 745 personnel and over 1,000 Overseas Absentee Voting staff abroad to facilitate listing of absentee voters. The committee is expecting about 1.7 million registrants all over the world.
Casting the ballot from overseas:* Electronic data-capturing machines (DCMs) are used to register the OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) as absentee voters from August 1 to September 30 at the Philippines embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Philippines Overseas Labour Office in Dubai.
* DCMs were first used in the registration of voters in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao last year.
* Comelec has deployed 357 data capturing machines in 84 Filipino diplomatic posts in different parts of the world.
* To register as an absentee voter an OFW must present an original passport.
* If original is not available, photocopy will be accepted, plus labour card or birth certificate, marriage contract, employment card, driving licence, Social Security System card and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration e-card.
* There are 17 data capturing machines on standby. Comelec will tap the services of about 4,000 Filipino associations abroad to spread information
* Land-based OFWs can vote within 30 days from April 11, 2004 to May 10, 2004.
Gulf News
