Filipinos OK with how 2019 polls turned out

FOUR OF FIVE Filipinos were satisfied with how the 2019 midterm elections — where allies of President Rodrigo R. Duterte dominated the vote that was marred by technical glitches — were conducted, according to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) poll.

The net satisfaction rating for the elections was +68 (very good), 5 points below +73 for the June 2016 presidential elections.

SWS said 79% of Filipinos through the Commission on Elections (Comelec) had done its job “independently without favoring any candidate or group.”

The polling firm said 86% and 88% of Filipinos believed the results for the senatorial and House of Representatives elections respectively.

SWS interviewed 1,200 adults from June 22 to 26 for the poll, which had an error margin of ±3 points.

“The survey results should put to rest the doubt cast by the vociferous and partisan minority upon the integrity of the midterm elections,” presidential spokesman Salvador S. Panelo said in a statement.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte, he added, is committed in asking the Comelec to have a “fraud-free technology provider in 2022 as part of his lasting electoral reform legacy.” — Arjay L. Balinbin