Four months before the May elections, 7 out of 10 Filipinos (71%) admit they have little to no knowledge about the new automated election system to be used in the country's first automated polls, a Pulse Asia survey revealed Wednesday.
The January 22 to 26 survey showed that 46% of Filipinos know little about the automated election system while 25% said they know nothing about the AES.
Pulse Asia said little/no knowledge about the AES is reported by majorities in the different geographic areas (62% to 80%) and socioeconomic groupings (61% to 79%).
Only 8% of Filipinos said they know a great deal about the AES while 20% know enough about it.
The survey showed that Metro Manila voters and those from Class ABC had more knowledge about the new election system (39%).
Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal, meanwhile, questioned the survey results, saying that many Filipinos still have misconceptions about poll automation.
"A common misconception is that for poll automation, you have to know how to operate a computer. For these elections, voter simply should know how to vote. Just shade the oval and that tales very little knowledge to do that," he told ANC.
He said the 71% could mean that voters "do not know how transmission is done but they know how to vote."
The January 22 to 26 Pulse Asia survey used a multistage probability sample of 1,800 adults of voting age. It has a margin of error of ± 2% at the 95% confidence level.
Many believe automation equals credible polls
Nearly one in two Filipinos (48%) believe that the May 2010 elections will be credible because of poll automation, while another 37% said they do not know if poll automation would make the elections credible or not. A total of 59% of Visayas voters and 48% of Mindanao voters said the May ections will be clean because of poll automation.
More voters from Class D (46%) and E (53%) said that the May 2010 elections will be clean and the results credible because of poll automation, compared to 43% from Class ABC.
Only 14% of nationwide voters disagree that the May 2010 elections will be credible because of automation.
A total of 54% of voters said they expect trouble if the outcome of the May 2010 elections is not clean and credible. This is most pronounced in the National Capital Region (74%) and West and Central Visayas (62%). An exception is Mindanao where about the same percentages either expect trouble or express indecision on the matter.
Majority trust public school teachers
Majority of Filipino voters (63%) believe that public school teachers will be impartial in the performance of their roles as board of election inspectors and are able to manage the automated election system.
On the other hand, a small majority of Filipinos (52%) believe that the Commission on Elections is prepared to effectively implement the automaiton of the coming elections. This contrasts with the 19% of Filipinos who do not trust Comelec to effectively automate the elections.
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