The Commission on Elections, or Comelec, said on Sunday that if people want to count votes by hand (manual recount) for the Eleksyon 2025, a new law must be made or the old law needs to be changed first. This is because the current election law focuses on using machines to count votes automatically and does not have money set aside for counting votes by hand.
Comelec’s boss, Chairman George Garcia, said the law called Republic Act No. 9369, which is about automated elections, was made so that all votes are counted by machines — no manual counting was planned. The law does allow some random checks by hand to make sure the machines are working right, but it does not cover counting all votes by hand.
Garcia explained in a radio interview that since the Philippines started using machines to count votes in 2010, there hasn’t been money for big manual recounts. He said:
“We don’t have money for that kind of manual counting if it’s really required by the law. Since 2010, we have been doing automated elections, so manual counting like that has never been budgeted.”
He also asked important questions about what would happen if a manual recount were allowed:
-
Who would do the counting?
-
Where would the counting happen?
-
How much would it cost?
-
Where will the money come from?
-
What steps and rules will be followed?
Comelec said that usually, if someone wants a manual recount, they have to file an election protest, which is like an official complaint. This is why the call for a manual recount by Apollo Quiboloy, a senatorial candidate, has to go through that process.
Comelec also announced the winners for the 12 Senate seats last Saturday. Garcia said that once the Senate announces the winners, Comelec can no longer control the case if a manual recount happens because the Senate Electoral Tribunal will be in charge.
Because of all this, Garcia said it might be time to update the election law because the current one is from 2007 — that’s more than 15 years ago! He said technology has changed a lot since then, and the law may no longer fit today’s needs.
“This is a good chance to make new laws or change the Automated Election Law because it’s old and there are many changes in technology. It might not be updated anymore,” Garcia said.
He added that he agrees that the law needs to be changed if needed. But right now, Comelec cannot do much because they only follow the current law and don’t have the power to act outside it.
Last May 14, Comelec began a process called the Random Manual Audit (RMA). This means some ballots from over 700 randomly picked voting areas were checked by hand to make sure the machines counted correctly. Around 60 teams from the Department of Education, made up of teachers who didn’t help with the election, worked on this.
These checks help show that the voting machines are working properly and that the election results are correct.
