Tag: elections

constitutional law, Election law & election campaigns, media law, News, The News Media

election right to reply

News peg: “Comelec to open citizens’ watch vs poll violators”. The Comelec said today that it wold come out with an advertisement  that  would encourage the public to report election law violations of the Fair Election Act and its IRR, Comelec Resolution 9615, before Feb. 12, the start of the campaign period.

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 By the way, Comelec Resolution 9615 has a “right to reply”  provision as follows:

COMELEC Resolution 9615 as amended Feb. 1, 2013:

“SECTION 14.  Right  to Reply.  – All registered political parties, party-list  groups or coalitions and bona fide  candidates shall  have  the  right  to  reply  to  charges  published  or  aired against  them.  The  reply  shall  be  given  publicity  by  the newspaper, television, and/or radio station which first printed or aired the charges with  the same prominence  or in the same page or section or in the same time slot as the first statement.

Registered  political  parties,   partv-list  groups  or coalitions  and  bona fide candidates may  invoke  the right  to reply  by submitting within  a non-extendible period  of  forty-eight (48) hours from the  first broadcast or publication,  a formal verified  claim  against the  media  outlet  to  the  COMELEC,  through  the  appropriate  RED.  The  claim  shall  include  a detailed  enumeration .of  the  circumstances  and occurrences which warrant the invocation of  the right of  reply and must be accompanied by supporting   evidence, such as a copy of  the publication  or recording of  the television  or radio broadcast, as  the  case  may  be .   If  the supporting evidence is  not  yet available  due  to  circumstances beyond  the  power  of  the . claimant, the latter shall supplement his claim as soon as the supporting evidence becomes available, without delay on the part of  the claimant.  The claimant must likewise furnish a copy of  the verified claim  and its attachments to  the media outlet  concerned  prior  to  the  filing  of  the  claim  with  the COMELEC.

    “The  COMELEC,  through  the  RED,  shall  review  the verified  claim  within . forty-eight  (48)  hours  from  receipt  thereof,  including supporting  evidence, and if  circumstances warrant,  give  notice  to  the  media  outlet  involved  for appropriate  action, which shall, within forty-eight  (48) hours, submit  its  comment,  answer  or  response  to  the  RED, explaining  the action it has taken to address the claim.  The media  outlet  must  likewise  furnish  a  copy   of  the  said comment,  answer  or response  to  the  claimant  invoking the right to reply. Should the claimant insist that his/her right to reply was not addressed, he/she may file the appropriate petition and/or complaint  before  the  Commission  on  elections  or  its field offices,  which  shall  be  endorsed  to  the  Clerk  of  the Commission.”

News, The News Media, The President, tweets

(Updated). Realtime: all the updates on the US polls, Obama vs. Romney, minute-to-minute

(overreported but only 48 hours left to go!)

        In the interest of balance, fairness, truth, accuracy, impartiality, “objectivity”, clarity, completeness,  correctness, timeliness — and all the qualities of news — here are all the updates realtime on the U.S. presidential race:

                                                       Ok. Calm down.

“Networks Give Obama, Romney Disproportionate Airtime As Election Nears

“AP  |  Posted: 11/05/2012 12:39 pm EST

“NEW YORK (AP) — Television news networks are showing some of the final stump speeches for the presidential candidates, but what you see depends on where you look.

“The liberal group Media Matters for America said Monday that the left-leaning MSNBC aired 79 minutes of speechifying by President Obama from Thursday through late Sunday afternoon, compared with 44 minutes of Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

“There was a larger disparity on Fox News Channel, which is popular with conservatives. During the same period, Fox aired 27 minutes of the Democratic incumbent and 168 minutes of Romney making his case.

“Media Matters says CNN aired 66 minutes of Obama and 53 minutes of Romney.”

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“Early Voting Chaos Ensues In Swing States

from huffingtonpost.com:   “MIAMI — The battle over ballot access continued across the country Monday, as Republican Party operatives and elected officials pressed forward with apparent attempts to suppress the vote ahead of Election Day.

“Chaos reigned in South Florida, where Republican Gov. Rick Scott has refused to extend a reduced early voting period despite lines lasting as long as eight or nine hours, and an emergency lawsuit from state Democrats. His GOP predecessors Jeb Bush and Charlie Crist both extended early voting hours by executive order, and on Sunday Crist called Scott’s refusal to follow suit “indefensible” and “unconscionable.” “

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“Nine swing states will decide final results

The Irish Times – Tuesday, November 6, 2012.   “xxx Both campaigns agree that 36 states are not competitive. Some 22 will vote for Republican Mitt Romney, while 14 will plump for President Barack Obama. However the states where the president is popular are more populous. When tallied with electoral college votes attached to each state, Obama is in a stronger position.

“Battleground states

“These states alone with give Obama 197 votes and Romney 169. Both, then, are short of the 270 votes needed to capture the White House. No ballots have been counted yet, but several states offer information about party affiliation of the voters casting early ballots.

“This data indicates that Democrats lead in four of the five battleground states, while Republicans appears to be ahead in one.

“Experts have cautioned against reading too much into these findings, as final results may differ significantly.

“Latest polling data indicates that President Obama carries a significant – but slim – edge over former Massachusetts governor Romney

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“Why the 2012 election is the closest in recent history

By Scott Bomboy | National Constitution Center – 2 hrs 38 mins ago.   “As Election Day approaches, a review of polling data going back to 1936 shows the race between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney is the closest in 76 years.

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“Two final tracking polls split between Obama and Romney

by Liz Goodwin, Yahoo! News | The Ticket – 3 hrs ago.  “Two final tracking polls from Gallup and the Washington Post/ABC News were released Monday, with the former showing Mitt Romney up 1 point among likely voters and the latter favoring President Obama by 3 points

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“Early voting results favor Obama, but popular vote remains uncertain

“By Brendan James | The Ticket – 4 hrs ago. Thirty million votes are already cast for the next president of the Unites States, and the turnout so far favors President Barack Obama over GOP challenger Mitt Romney.

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“After 2 years and $2 billion, it’s time to choose

“(CBS News) Two years. $2 billion. Now it’s your turn. The long and expensive presidential campaign is down to its last hours. National polls show the race dead even, but in the few swing states that will tip the balance, the president has a slight advantage over Mitt Romney.

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“Do or die: Final campaign day dawns

“Updated: 2012-11-06 08:19. By Tangi Quemener in Madison, Wisconsin ( China Daily).  “Both candidates frantically court undecided voters.

“After a grueling 18-month battle, the final US campaign day arrived on Monday for President Barack Obama and rival Mitt Romney, two men on a course for the US top job….”

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Gera

“Pag nanalo republicans, may gera uli (war of  aggression), maiipit na naman tayo…”  by marichulambino.

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