Kabataan Partylist

Vote-padding geared to win seats for fake party-lists, increase required 2% threshold

Party-lists Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela, Kabataan and Suara today decried the emerging pattern of massive vote-padding for government-funded party-lists in the canvassing phase.

Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo said that while they expected cases of vote-shaving against progressive party-lists, massive vote-padding for government-funded party-lists is an unprecedented ploy to downplay their groups’ imminent victories.

Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza said that the party-lists are set to file additional cases of electoral sabotage against five to six election officers who violated Comelec Resolution 7859. “This should serve as a stern warning against Malacanang operators and cheats,” said Maza.

The party-lists cited cases of vote-padding for Malacanang-backed party-lists in Cauayan, Isabela.

Suara Bangsamoro spokesperson Shamroud Abdulaziz expressed fears that this new tactic may greatly affect their votes in the Mindanao region. He specifically cited cases in Zamboanga Sibugay from Summary of Votes No. 0000160 and COC Nos. 0000443, 0000438, 0000444, 0000434, 0000433, 0000442 and 0000436 where padded votes for COOP-NATCO and UNIMAD totaled to 36,609. (see attached table)

“This is another form of electoral fraud that needs to be exposed for what it’s truly worth. The vote-padding may not necessarily amount to winning seats for government-funded PLS. It, however, cunningly increases the total party-list votes and as a result shoots up the required number of votes to seat one party-list representive,” said Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano.

For his part, Kabataan President Raymond Palatino said, “This tactic affects not only progressive party-lists but other party-list bets that represent the truly marginalized. It is a butchery of the party-list system.”

for daily updates on cases of electoral fraud and violence, go here.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007 at 11:36 pm and is filed under News and Press releases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.