The national election will take place in less than a year. We are in the most challenging time to go outside and vote. The country has not achieved herd immunity with only around 1% of the population vaccinated.
Yet, policymakers are considering easing the implementation of using face shields. In some areas, like the rural neighborhoods, face masks are not strictly required anymore.
India did the same, they eased the implementation of using face masks and other protective equipment. A few days after they held their elections and their biggest festival, a sudden surge of COVID-19 cases hit India.
It is valid to be afraid but we have a responsibility at hand. The upcoming election will be the most stressful one unless we are open to new ways of voting such as:
Vote by Mail
The United States had a Vote-by-Mail option in their last elections a few months ago. Although we have to consider that the US has “perfected” its way around mails, the country still has the advantage to try and implement it. The Philippines is smaller in land area, thus, the circulation of mails would be faster.
Mails might face a great risk of fraudulent activities but it is time-consuming and impractical to manually write and revise votes. This option is especially advantageous to people who are not yet allowed to go out such as senior citizens and citizens currently in quarantine.
Online Voting
In 2020, there were 73.91 million Filipinos who have access to the internet according to Datareportal. That number is more than half of the population in the country. Online voting is a great option for people who are registered in a different city/municipality and are not yet allowed to travel.
Online voting might cost a fortune since it is essential to build its own domain with a strong and reliable firewall. The government can tap countries from the UN, that have maximum cybersecurity, to administer the online voting platform.
Vote Early
The state of Florida implemented a vote early option which enabled voters to cast their votes within three to ten days before the actual election. In our case, this will be helpful for essential workers who are in the frontline of the pandemic.
Voting by Proxy
Voting by proxy is practiced by the majority in Europe. A proxy is someone you trust who can vote on your behalf. A proxy can be your relative but the relationship doesn’t matter as long they can provide letters of authorization and other documents.
To make this option effective, the government can mandate LGUs to provide official documents or permits that will validate proxies. This way, proxies will need to apply through the LGU for a permit to avoid infringement.