I just found a new blog which seems fully dedicated to the cause of automated elections. Botomoto’s entry about Hillary Clinton’s recent visit to the Philippines and what she had to say about the country’s first automated polls got me fired up about this post.

I really hate gushing, but if I had to paint a picture of what the United States of America would look like if she were a woman, she would look like US Secretary of State Clinton.  She is one beautiful, strong woman and I have to confess that I am more of an Americanophile at this point than I have ever been before.

If I could travel back in time, I would probably slap Manuel L. Quezon silly on the day he said that the Philippines would be better off run like hell by Filipinos.  I would have opposed independence from the United States, knowing that Quezon and his contemporaries were merely trying to secure their own interests.

Anyway, among the many things that Hillary discussed was the coming automated polls in 2010.

Here is a transcript of her interview during the Manila Forum held at UST and set up by ANC’s Glenda Gloria.

(By the way, it seems that this is the first time such a thing was organized and set up in record time by ANC.  Word is that the number of advertisers who wanted in kept growing as the Manila Forum was replayed.  Congratulations to Glenda Gloria for pulling off this coup.)

Maria Ressa: We got to ask you. We have elections coming up in May 2010.  Our state of democracy, we’ve come from EDSA in 1986.  Largely a promise that has remained unfulfilled.  We seem to be in the same place where we are now.  How would you gauge where we are as a democracy and what do you see moving forward?

Hillary Clinton: Well, I think there is always a difficulty in fulfilling the promise of democracy.  But there is no better system.  As hard as democracy is, as frustrating, as disappointing as it can be, it is by far the best system that human beings have ever devised.

And I know that you are going to be moving towards automated elections, which I think is a very positive step forward.

Maria Ressa:  It is the first time that a country anywhere in the world will be going from full manual to fully automated without a dress rehearsal.

Hillary Clinton: Well, I know it is challenging, but I would just like to hold up the example of India – the world’s largest democracy. India adopted automated, computerized voting several elections ago.  We think about India, with more than a billion people, with something like more than half a billion or six hundred million vote.  Illiterate people vote by looking at the pictures on the punch card of the faces, of the symbols of the parties. 

And what I was so impressed by, was the way India set this up  –and I don’t know how the Philippines has actually set it up.

They took it out of politics.  It is run by a board of civil servants, the politicians of any party are not involved in it.  And it is so highly effective that nobody questions the results of the elections. Well, that is what I hope for you.

Based on our experience, there will be bumps in the road.  When we moved towards automation, we had some problems but you just keep working on it and keep perfecting it and there could be some dry runs not of a full elections but trying out the technology, making sure you know how it works, EDUCATING VOTERS ABOUT IT. But in many places it has proven to be quite successful and I hope the same thing will happen for you.

Perhaps Hillary hadn’t been briefed fully about the state of automated elections in the country, but if she had been, perhaps she would have emphasized voter education more fully.

In a press statement in August, the Comelec had said that there was a P2 billion ($4.3 million) fund for voters education.  But just recently, the Comelec revealed that the Department of Budget and Management approved only P70 million ($1.5 million) for voters education.

Despite being told by the US Secretary of State about the importance of automated elections in the Philippines, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo seems to be oblivious about the state of voters education – which at this point, is sorely lacking. 

At this point, perhaps all that is needed is for DBM to approve the full amount for voter’s education.  Otherwise, the failure of automated polls in 2010 could be fully credited to Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the DBM.