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HOW TO CHEAT IN POLLS: NAMFREL LISTS 11 WAYS This is "How Cheating Is Done During Elections," according to the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections in a paper it distributed to its volunteers yesterday. Bribery. Vote-buying or getting a voter to vote for a particular candidate by paying him off. "Buying abstentions" or "negative vote-buying." Here the voter who is expected to vote for the opponent is urged not to vote. There is the promise of jobs or loans, or even promotion to make a voter pick particular candidates, or for him not to cast his ballot at all. Even members of the board of election inspectors or the teachers who man the polls may be bribed too, Namfrel said. Intimidation. Direct threats to voters identified with a particular party not to vote. If this does not work, the voter’s family is threatened, and even his business or property is included in the "threat package."Teachers may also be threatened so they would not do their poll duties or be lax in implementing election rules, Namfrel said. Illegal use of indelible ink. Originally conceived as a check against flying voters, it may be used as a tool for cheating. It is applied to the voters’ right forefinger before he goes to the polling area so that he will not be allowed to vote. Namfrel secretary general Guillermo Luz said this was used in recent elections and could again be used in the next exercise. Namfrel is still at a loss on how to prevent this. Abduction. Voters could be abducted or held in inaccessible places so they could not vote.Registered voters identified with a rival party are assigned to places far from their precincts.They could sow fear and unrest to discourage voters from going out to vote. Disruption of means of transportation. Political cheats could also disrupt the means of transportation to distant polling places.Expect, too, the spread of false reports about withdrawals or disqualifications of candidates such that their voters would no longer cast their votes in their favor. Changing the numbering of precincts without notice. Changing of location of precincts. This appears to have already started, at least, in Quezon City with 1.06 million voters, which confused voters as to where they should cast their votes due to the changes in the numbering and location of polling places without notice. Marking the ballots so these will be considered spoiled ballots.
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer
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