Avenues for electoral modernization in the Philippines

• Main Author: Ona, Sherwin E.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2007
• Subjects: Elections—Philippines; Election law—Philippines; Elections—Technological innovations—Philippines; Databases and Information Systems; Political Science
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/8579
• Institution: De La Salle University

The vision of electoral reform in the Philippines has long been an illusive dream. There is a long history of manipulation, fraud, and interest preservation that characterize the nature of Philippine elections. Indeed an understanding of these events provides a holistic view that can aid in providing a comprehensive and systematic perspective to electoral modernization. This paper will present various viewpoints that must be considered in discussing electoral modernization. It is the firm belief of the author that attempts to look at electoral modernization purely on a technical standpoint will fall short of expectations thus cannot provide a comprehensive solution to problems houding Philippine elections. It is imperative that any attempt on electoral modernization in the Philippines should consider the nature of Philippine elections, its history and structure; and lastly how elections has been used as a tool for political manipulation and control.