No assurance of ‘meaningful’ poll assessment - EU mission

Metro Manila, Philippines - A European Union poll observer group said it could not guarantee a meaningful assessment of the voting process after its members were barred from entering polling precincts.

The Commission on Elections denied the group’s request in line with the election law, so the EU Election Observation Mission said on Monday, May 12, it did not follow its plan of deploying the whole team of observers to voting precincts.

Observers were sent instead to the counting process after the closing of polls at 7 p.m.

The international mission, which has pledged non-interference to the electoral process, said accessing polling precincts was “an essential element of the EU’s observation methodology.”

The methodology has been “consistently applied during observation in over 75 countries” in the past 25 years, it added.

It cited the mutual commitment signed on March 12 by the EU and the Philippine authorities, which granted to the mission “freedom of access, at any time, to all polling precincts and the canvassing centers and also ensuring that all mission members shall abide by the COMELEC’s (Commission on Elections) International Election Observer Accreditation Guidelines and the EU EOM code of conduct.”

The EU mission will present preliminary findings and conclusions on the electoral process on Wednesday, May 14.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia previously said the poll body is “fully aware” of the possible negative consequences of the denied request.

Over 200 observers from EU member states, plus Canada, Norway, and Switzerland are monitoring the elections and will issue recommendations for future polls.