Can automated Presidential Election this coming 2010 help reduce cheating?

I don't think cheating will be reduced in the 2010 election. It will always be there so long as the minds of our politicians never change. Dirty politics will surely prevail especially that these people will do everything just to get the power and authority that they want.

Hello Fatherblogger, well for me, it will make no difference even if its automated voting or not. There are lots of things going to happen there first before election comes. And as we know Politics is a very dirty game. So i guess Filipinos would be more prayerful than before since we can't see any changes done to our country. Prices of commodities are still the same and is rising every week. Most Filipinos depend on their families working abroad. And what will the government do? It's full of corruption and we can't see any hope for these people to change for the better.

Any system can be manipulated but I think making the elections automated can definitely reduce the possibility of cheating as long as the once in control of the system stay clean. We must remember all systems are clean it is just a question of honesty for the people who run it.

Automated elections can prevent cheating if it is secured properly and the results are not tampered. Funds devoted to this project will just be useless if the system is already being tampered with. With the issue of vote buying and vote selling, an automated voting system cannot do much about that as that is a different issue to tackle with. Cheers, happy mylotting.

Yes, automated election can help reduce cheating. There are lots of cheating being done during the counting process from the precinct level up to the national canvassing and ballot snatching still happens in remote areas. With the automation, some of the well-known cheating techniques will become obsolete. There are possibilities that things will change to higher level cheating just like what we have witnessed in the last two national elections. Politicians who doubts their people in the field or who are running in areas where vigilant voters were present resorted bribing the very institution that are supposed to guard this vital democratic process. (Thanks to Gloria and Abalos!) However, if the safeguards will be in placed and the voters will be more involved, automation is a way lot better than the manual system which we have. As for the money to be used for this project, yes it is huge but I believe it is a necessary investment. Indeed, the fund could be used for worthy endeavors but how much percentage will really go for the betterment of the masses considering that the politicians have to gain back first what they used for cheating?

Philippine politics is hopeless and useless. whoever will replace the present administration, the problems will still prevail or will even worsen. it gets worse after one administration to another. problems will multiply and no let up on corruptions. good luck to all of us. we need all the luck we can get for the coming elections. There will be another set of garcillano, bolante etc..

SOme how it seems to me that people can cheat on these machines too. and I like you think the money could be spent better giving to the poor folk!

The only thing I am seeing improved in the elections if it becomes automated is it will hasten the counting but making it foolproof from being defrauded I guess it will be flawed since we do have many IT in here that could easily manipulate the counting if they want to. Well if we chose top prioritize this I guess the budget allocated for poverty alleviation should still be the top priority project the government should pursue but we should understand that modernizing our electoral process may also help us bring out a faster result that could make the transfer of power more faster and efficiently as possible.

People can sell their vote? Here we either vote or we don't.These voting machines can be rigged easier than regular voting systems.Let's face it, if anyone wants to cheat the system, they will.

All i can say is that, never get involved in politics because it's always not fair.. It's just a game for the rich and that's how they get all the things they wanted to do.. As for the poor, what matters to them is having enough to eat and get by in life, and thus they dun care much about future, when they cant even get past the present.. Cheating will always be hard to be rid of, and nothing is really fool proof in the world.. But it comes to politics, dun dig too deep into it, because we might only be more angry to know the truth and intention behind their actions..

if the result will be as fast as the election in USA then i dont think that there will be cheating. but if it will also take for months...my goodness of course there will be cheating. knowing this country of ours cheaters are the one who are sitting in office. the goverment always say they will use the money for like this and like that but it always end up to be putting it inside their own pockets.

That budget is quite a a lot and for me, a clean election will result to a clean candidates so there is no corrupt officials who will steal our money. Money that could be used for the education, food or our fellow citizens. The one who needs most. This alloting of billion of money could be at first a shocking moment for us but if you go deeply it is really helpful in our country especially to the less fortunate ones.

I think they should use the money for education fund for the less fortunate kids. So that when these kids grow and finish their studies they could get a decent job to support them and their family financially. This machine could only add up to the corruption and cheating in our country.

It MIGHT reduce cheating. But meeh. I'd rather the government use the money to improve education instead. Yes, majority of Filipinos know how to read and write but is that enough? It is only through good education that our people can lift the country. We'd be able to get good jobs. We'd be able to sustain ourselves without waiting for "charity" from others and without resorting to selling our votes and the like. Above all, educated people CAN vote wisely.

I think automated Presidential Election will just increase the probability of cheating rather than decrease it here in our country. It is much easier for them to change the votes. I just wish they use the money elsewhere, on something much more important. How about housing projects for the poor? lend the money to entrepreneurs or as you've said just use it for free tuition for kids who wanted to learn but can't afford it.