The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) gets overwhelming support from the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and various Muslim religious leaders and civil society organizations in the conduct of its voters’ education campaign in preparation for the August 11, 2008 automated elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

COMELEC spokesman and Education and Information Department Director James Jimenez said that the PPCRV and the Bangsamoro civil society leaders which include the Assembly of Darul Ifta of the Philippines, will be the poll body’s major partners to reach the ARMM voters at the grassroots level.

“COMELEC together with the service providers Smartmatic-Sahi and Avante will field various teams to conduct municipal based voters’ orientation program starting July,” Jimenez added.

“We welcome the efforts of the local Muslim leaders and civil society groups to help us educate the voters, on the use of automated voting and counting machines, especially in the farthest Barangays and municipalities in the ARMM,” he said.

But despite the security features embedded in the automated voting and counting machines, the COMELEC official urged election stakeholders to continue with their vigilance and active participation in the upcoming polls.

“No amount of machines can solve election fraud. The machines only address one aspect of the election, which is accurate and speedy counting. People’s vigilance and active participation is sill key in achieving clean, honest, orderly and credible elections,” said Jimenez, during his talk at the opening rites of the “Pre-election ARMM Summit Workshop” organized by the PPCRV last weekend.

The summit, PPCRV head Henrietta de Villa said aims to prepare civil society groups, including Muslim religious organizations for the ARMM elections.

During the summit, the two service providers namely Smartmatic-Sahi Technology and Avante International Technology conducted demonstration on the process of voting, counting and electronic transmission of votes. ###

Updated:11.06.09 SMBR