Published in 2004, this political report by ACF documents the May 2004 national and local elections through the lens of political violence, electoral irregularities, and structural shortcomings within the “EDSA political system”. The paper disputes the official claims of a peaceful election, citing high casualties, voter exclusion, and widespread fraud that arise from manual voting and canvassing. The report summarizes monitoring efforts by COMPACT-IOM, where they identified drivers of electoral violence such as political dynasties, local patronage, and private armies. And non-state actors like the New People’s Army (NPA) through their Permit-to-Campaign (PTC) extortion scheme. It also outlines programmatic recommendations to build a sustained movement for peace and democracy. It calls for comprehensive electoral and institutional reform, urging COMELEC automation and re-engineering, strengthening the party system, curbing dynastic politics, and elevating security sector standards.
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