MANILA, Philippines — The National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) has launched a QR code-based initiative allowing the public to help independently verify transmitted results of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary elections.
Namfrel said its Operation QR Count 2026 (OQC 2026) will allow anyone in BARMM with an Android device to capture the header and QR codes of election returns (ERs) posted outside polling places after the counting of votes.
The captured information will be sent to Namfrel headquarters through its mobile application and matched with the transmitted results from the same polling places.
“Everybody is encouraged to download the NAMFREL 2026 app to help independently verify the transmitted election results in their own polling place, voting center, barangay, city and municipality,” Namfrel National Chairman Lito Averia said in a statement Sunday.
“Every voter should be an observer,” Averia added.
Namfrel said that participants do not need to be poll volunteers to take part in the initiative. They may use the app to capture election returns from as many polling places as they can visit.
As an accredited citizens’ arm of the Commission on Elections, Namfrel said it will receive transmitted election results in real time and make them available to the public through its website.
The election returns posted outside polling places will be printed before electronic transmission, according to Namfrel. The group said the returns will be posted for up to three days after election day.
Averia also encouraged young people, local candidates and their supporters to participate in the initiative.
Namfrel said the application can be used even without an internet connection on election day. Captured images can be uploaded once an internet connection becomes available.
The group deployed volunteers across the region to monitor the pre-election, election-day and post-election periods.
