Technology, Politics and Elections

In the realm of the World Wide Web, traditional politics today has evolved into an Internet Politics. The face of the electoral process, at least in the Philippines, has become more sophisticated, exciting and more “political”. From the candidate’s campaign, to endorsements, to making a stand without going to shout in the streets, from the candidates’ update while campaigning from miles away, to updates as to who is leading (through surveys). Communication just became better (or worse?).

This is the third time that I am voting and for the past 2 times I voted, this is the only time where I can make a stand even from where I am. I don’t have to actually join political rallies or caravans to influence people and feel that I am able to tell everyone who I am voting for and who I am supporting. Thanks to the development of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Friendster. I can say that I am not just limited to the people who see me, but even to friends of my friends who might have the access to my posts or profile. This is aside from the fact that we can also share the exact post or blog, in case we really liked the contents of it.

With the emergence of technology, we have been given a stage to let everyone know who we are voting or supporting. We can freely express our sentiments, though virtually, our eyes are opened to other facets of the candidates we are supporting. On the part of the candidates running for a position, electoral expenses have also been cut to 50% or even more. Internet campaign, whether we like it or not, has provided them with a more cost-effective way of mobilizing our volunteers, creating more efficient avenues to let everyone know of their platforms. If we may ask, who are the voting public? It’s those who have an access to the Internet, or even the 1/3 voting population who are poor still have mobile phones where message updates are sent using multiple- receiver (send-to-many) setting, thanks to the availability of such software.

 The following is my analogy of Technology today being used in the Elections, at least in the Philippine setting:

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGE
Cost-effective campaign	Cost-effective cheating
Quicker tallying of votes	Quicker cheating
Smoother communication (real-time updates)	May be hacked to alter the smooth communication
High-tech presentation of platform (propaganda)	High-tech backstabbing of other candidates (black propaganda)
High-tech voting	High-tech cheating
Reach the unreached	Cheat the unreached
Easier (no manual counting)	Easier to cheat

For me, there has to be some balance between the use of technology and the manual process of some of our elections’ activities. We cannot virtually see sincerity unless we see the person. I hope that people are a little wiser, in terms of selecting their candidates, not purely based on what is passed on to them over the world wide web, but take time to know their candidates personally as well.

Since change is indeed inevitable, it’s the very character of elections here in the Philippines that also has to change simultaneous with technology. I personally embrace advancement, new innovations, and new technologies, all for the glory of a more comfortable life. But then again, the mantle of responsibility is still in us who uses them. It’s never an issue of technology, it has always been an issue of the people who abuse it and use it for their personal gains. Every Juan in this country should learn to advance as well, in terms of integrity, honesty, transparency, and purity of heart, as technology has been.