Votes padded by 2 to 2.7 million, say party-list, GO watchdog
The progressive party-list-GO task force poll watch has uncovered data showing that votes in the ongoing COMELEC count may be padded by anywhere from 2 to 2.7 million votes.
A check of completed city and provincial COCs from the official COMELEC canvass already gives a 73.4% voter turnout in 45 provinces which is 4.42% higher than the Pulse Asia exit poll of 69%. This translates to approximately two million padded votes nationwide and counting.
“What made us suspicious was COMELEC Chairman Benjamin Abalos’ premature announcement, a day after the elections, that voter turnout was 75%. This may have provided political operators with as much as 2.7 million in cheatable, negotiable votes,” said Dr. Giovanni Tapang, analyst of the said task force.
Tapang said 2.7 million votes can affect the ranking of the top 4 leading senatorial seats and can put candidates in the 13-18 slots in the winning 12 and cause those in the lower 6-12 seats to slide out of the winning circle.
“From the current standing in the COMELEC tally, 2.7 million can possibly put out 4 GO candidates (Aquino, Cayetano, Trillanes and Pimintel) and one independent (Honasan) out of the race,” said Tapang.
The six TU candidates that can be catapulted to the winning circle are Zubiri, Recto, Defensor, Pichay, Montano and Sotto.
In the party list race, 2.7 million is equivalent to eight seats up for negotiation. At the same time, it would affect the overall percentages of opposition party list groups by increasing the total base of the party list votes, effectively increasing the 2% vote threshold for each seat in Congress.
Tapang decried the fact that in many cases, COMELEC officials refused to provide opposition poll watchers with copies of election returns even if they had authorization and identification documents for the LP dominant minority party, making it difficult to immediately counter-check the vote padding.