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SWS: 75% of Filipinos satisfied with national polls


Written by Sara Fabunan / Correspondent

SEVENTY-FIVE percent of Filipinos and poll workers were “satisfied” with the conduct of the country’s first-ever automated elections on May 10, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said.

The SWS survey also said the elections for the presidential and vice-presidential posts were credible.

Funded by Asia Foundation, the SWS conducted the poll from June 25 to 28 among 1,200 Filipino adults and a complementary survey among 480 poll workers.

From the total sample population, 8 percent said they were undecided, while 15 percent said they were dissatisfied on the way the poll body handled the national elections.

“This year’s public satisfaction with the conduct of the May 2010 elections was a marked improvement compared
with the previous two elections,” the SWS stated.

During the 2004 and 2007 elections, only 53 percent and 51 percent, respectively, of the survey participants declared satisfaction with the elections.

On the other hand, the result from the 480 election workers showed 90 percent of them were satisfied with the conduct of the polls, compared with the 78 percent workers during the midterm elections.

In an interview, Commission on Elections Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said yesterday the survey showed that voters found satisfaction from the results for president and vice president, adding that the result was “highly credible” compared with the past elections.

“[The result from SWS] clearly showed that it was a successful election,” Larrazabal said in a press briefing yesterday.

Seventy-seven percent of participants believe the Comelec results were credible, saying those proclaimed truly got the most number of votes.

The figures were 12 percent higher compared with the 65-percent satisfaction rating in 2007.

The report also revealed that the respondents also said they were satisfied with the effort of Comelec’s supplier, Smartmatic and Total Information Management Corp. (Smartmatic-TIM), and its poll watchdog, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV)

The June survey said 70 percent of the voters were satisfied with Smartmatic-TIM’s performance in ensuring that the voting machines were working properly.

The PPCRV received a 75-percent nod from survey participants, saying it was honest in reporting the count.

The Legal Network for Truthful Elections, another Comelec citizen’s arm, got 32-percent satisfaction rating for guarding the votes in the local races.

Source: Business Mirror