NEWLY PROCLAIMED UST Central Student Council (CSC) secretary Clarence Isaac Mindo maintained that there is no legal basis to declare his post vacant even if the unanswered ballots outnumbered those who voted for him.
Mindo, a Philosophy junior, was proclaimed on April 30 after the UST Central Commission on Elections (Comelec) had reversed its earlier decision to declare the post vacant, a move that has since drawn controversy.
He earned 8,565 votes, edging out College of Science bet Elijah Charles Viola, who received 8,433 votes. A total of 9,358 ballots for the position were left unanswered.
“There is no legal basis, the oral declaration of the Commission on Elections last Saturday, April 25, when they declared [the post] vacant in the basis of unanswered votes. So we don’t know, and in our review, there is no previous jurisprudence,” Mindo told The Flame after his proclamation.
In an April 30 resolution, the Comelec clarified that the 2011 UST Elections Code does not define abstain or unanswered votes, and that blank ballots only signify that a voter “has not selected a candidate for the respective position.”
“The Commission is in no position to speculate as to the voter’s intent regarding the omission of a selection for that position,” the Comelec said.
“The designation ‘unanswered’ does not constitute a candidate and should not be treated as a vote against any. Hence, it cannot defeat the candidate who obtained the highest number of votes,” it added.
Mindo also pushed for an investigation into alleged calls for abstentions or “dangerous propaganda in boycotting electoral processes,” which he called a “sign of ignorance and irresponsibility.”
“I have information about individuals who are advocating for abstentions and unanswered who I think also belongs to organizations partnered by Comelec in this election process. I call on to the Comelec to investigate this matter going against what the commission is advocating,” he said.
“A message for those who are advocating to unanswered voters’ ballots or vote for abstain: if there are two competing candidates, yet you choose to not engage critically in evaluating them, then the burden of being informed is not anymore at the position of those candidates but on you as a voter who decided to keep a blind eye and a mouth shut.”
Mindo said he initially planned to file an election protest, but he no longer found it necessary following the release of the resolution. He maintained that blank votes cannot defeat valid electoral choices, adding that counting unanswered ballots would be promoting indifference.
“The will of the electorate is expressed by those who chose to vote,” Mindo said.
He argued that a total of 16,998 students “performed a deliberate, positive act of selecting a candidate for secretary.”
“To allow 9,358 blank votes—which express no candidate preference—to override or nullify the decision of these voters is to frustrate the will of the electorate. Democracy operates on expressed preference, not silence. The commission cannot allow inaction to outweigh action,” Mindo added.
The CSC secretary also called for a review of cases where abstentions affected results, citing the auditor post in the AMV College of Accountancy Student Council and the assistant treasurer position in the Pharmacy Student Council.
“I am also appealing for a possible review… (of) cases where abstain votes prevailed,” he said, citing the 2017 Central Judiciary Board (CJB) ruling on abstention.
This CJB ruling orders “blank ballots” to be set aside, allowing candidates with the highest votes—even if lower than abstain—to be proclaimed winners.
He also questioned the basis of the failure of elections declaration in the Engineering Student Council (ESC).
“CSC constitution takes precedence than ESC constitution, therefore a review of the proclamation result in the ESC should be taken,” Mindo said.
The Central Comelec proclaimed the new officers last April 25. F — with reports from Sheridan Joy Delfino
