Elections

Detainees may be allowed to vote in 2010

This should come as a piece of good news to some. If the plans of the Commissions on Elections will push thru, the detainees or even those who are under trial and whose convictions are not yet deemed final will be given the chance to vote this coming election. And if indeed they will be given the chance to participate in the first automated national elections of the country, then they can be considered the first ones to do so in history.

According to the Commissions on Elections, there are around 45,000 detainees right now and their numbers can be quite significant in any close contest. But before these detainees are to be allowed to vote on jails, this measure and proposal by the elections governing body should be approved by the Congress. If this kind of move will not be allowed, then the COMELEC is thinking of allowing the detainees to vote in voting precincts, provided that the detainees will be escorted by the police. This is necessary since according to laws, conveying of the ballots outside of the precinct is not allowed.

The information was relayed by Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, and called the plan as ‘satellite registration and escorted voting’. Commissioner Rene Sarmiento is the head of the Detainee Registration and Voting. The plan also spells out the move that the registration in jail and the so-called ‘escorted voting’ will only be allowed in a jail if there are at least 200 qualified detainees. This development is indeed a welcome move by the COMELEC since this goes to show that the government is listening to the wants and the rights of the detainees. This move also goes to show that the detainees still belong to an important group of voters; a group of voters that can have a say in any close contest. And also by allowing them to participate in this political exercise, then the government allows them to still practice their voting rights. But let it be known that convicts with final sentences are no longer allowed to vote. If the convictions of the detainees are made on or before the day of the elections, then these detainees now lose their right and can no longer vote.