PCOS glitches, irregularities mar 2010 polls

Disenfranchisement massive as long lines swelled under heat of sun

Confusion, irregularities, breakdown of the counting machines, massive disenfranchisement of voters and vote buying marred the country’s first automated polls, with reports of voters having a hard time finding their names in the clustered precincts coupled with the inconvenience of filling up the more than two-foot long ballots.

The Tribune received reports that aside from the massive vote-buying in some areas, voters were allegedly given ballots with names of certain candidates already shaded.

Long lines were seen throughout the country’s polling precincts, with voters waiting it out under the hot sun, and unable to vote, as many of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines of Smartmatic were found to have glitches and technicians weren’t quick enough to fix the problem.

In the end, some voters just gave up and left the precincts without voting while others voted but left their open ballots with the Board of Elections Inspectors, who said it will be they who will be feeding these ballots into the machines, once the PCOS will have been repaired.

But another problem would be that the ballots left with the BEIs would likely be crumpled, or would be sweaty that the machines would likely be rejecting these ballots.

There was also noted massive vote buying in many parts of the country.

Initial unofficial count from the PPCRV, as of deadline time, showed that out of 430 precincts from various parts of the country, former President Joseph Estrada was a close second, not a distant second, to Liberal Party Standard bearer Noynoy Aquino.

According to PMP campaign manager Ernesto Maceda the earliest election returns culled from the PPCRV showed that Estrada got 67,943 votes while Aquino got 86,990 votes in 430 precincts from various parts of the country.

The results did not dampen the mood at Polk Street in Greenhills even as Maceda reminded them that there are around 50 million voters.

“Remember there are 50 million voters,” Maceda said.

Sen. Manny Villar of the Nationalista Party got 55,639 and Lakas Kampi CMD bet Gilbert Teodoro got 27,117 votes, Maceda said.

But even as confusion and irregularities reigned, the official line of the military and the Palace was that the nationwide elections were generally more peaceful as compared to the two preceding elections conducted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), spokesmen from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police said, in trying to convince the public yesterday.

Speaking before a live press conference organized at Malacañang, Chief Supt. Leandro Espina said both the PNP and AFP’s reinforced drive to control the spread of loose firearms along with the implementation of a tighter surveillance on the private armies have provided way better assessment report by the security officials in terms of peace and order.

From his data, the PNP spokesman said they have only registered a total number of 82 election-related violent incidents these 2010 Elections compared to 166 last 2004 national elections and 181 recorded during the 2007 senatorial race.

“So far we have observed that this should be the most peaceful elections so far in our history,” claimed Col. Ricardo Nepomuceno of the AFP’s Task Force HOPE (Honest, Orderly, Peaceful Elections).

Failure of elections has been declared by the Comelec in four provinces due to ballot switching and heightened violence.

In a press briefing, Comelec Spokesman James Jimenez said the ballots of Pagsanjan in Samar and Guimbal in Iloilo have been switched thus making it impossible for voting to take place.

“It was caught early so failure of elections will be declared in those areas. Why will there be failure there? Because there will be no ballots that the people can use,” said Jimenez.

Also being considered for a declaration of failure of elections are several towns in Lanao del Sur and Basilan.

Jimenez said in Lanao del Sur covering seven towns, members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) failed to show up.

The presence of hostilities in two Basilan towns has also led to the suspension of voting.

Open hostilities between government and rebels in Albarka has stopped voting while harassment of polling precincts has prevailed in precincts of Sumisip.

Meanwhile, Jimenez said this year’s violence worsened compared to the 2007 polls saying “It seems that there is more violence now than in previous elections. The quality of violence has gotten worsen in a sense that we are seeing open hostilities already in some places.”

He said the Comelec would like to attribute it to the introduction of the automated system but admitted that it would be a bias thing to do.

Smartmatic Corp., the supplier of the more than 82,000 PCOS machines maintained that the number of the computers that malfunctioned yesterday were within the required “failure rate” of the industry.

In a news briefing, the Comelec reported that 328 PCOS bogged down but about 239 have been replaced and now delivered in the polling precincts.

However, Cesar Flores, Smartmatic’s Asia Pacific president said that the important thing right now is that these problems that crop up are being addressed adequately.

“We are still within the margins of the expected errors and the replacement machines should arrive in time,” Flores said referring to the more than 6,000 spare PCOS machines.

At the same time, Flores noted that the delays should not be completely attributed to the introduction of the voting machines.

Flores said it should be noted that the problems in the polling precincts suffering delays is more on the procedural side.

“Not everything is related with the technology. It has to do with the procedures, to the training of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs). As you can see, many are related to the flow of the voters inside the voting center,” said Flores.

The Comelec noted that several precincts scattered around the country have been experiencing “bottle necks” in the verification of names of registered voters.

But according to Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal, this is where the support staff and the crowd management capabilities of the BEIs should come in.

“The purpose of the support staff is to assist the BEIs in the verification of the names… there are also several seats available in classrooms. Utilize these seats and allow our voters to vote. Let as get many people to vote as fast as possible,” said Larrazabal.

Melo also noted that several precincts also suffered delays due to the presence of senior citizens, who are voting slower than normal time estimated.

Poll watchdog Center for People Empowerment Governance (CenPEG) said that at least half or about 25 million of the nearly 51 million registered voters will likely be disenfranchised due to delays caused by the malfunctioning of the PCOS.

Bobby Tuazon, CenPEG’s director for policy studies said PCOS bogging down, problems with voters’ list, mixed up in the delivery of ballots, long cues due to slow voting, ballot feeding jams, and generally ill-trained members of the BEIs will result in up to 50 percent of the 51 million total registered voters.

“We had earlier anticipated widespread voters’ disenfranchisement on election day and called the attention of Comelec on this,” Tuazon said.

“CenPEG’s analysis of mock elections held by Comelec shows that with 50 mock voters casting their ballots for more than one hour at least 50 percent will fail to vote on May 10 with 1,000 voters lining up at the clustered precincts.” Tuazon said.

Tuazon noted that since the mock polls administered by the Comelec did not actually use the 1,000 voters in a remote barangay in the province, “their mock polls were not real, the election officials overestimated that their automation system would absorb all total registered voters in clustered precincts.”

It was also reported that BEIs did not use UV lamps scanners in many provinces in verifying the authenticity of the ballots.

Official election watchdoy Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) is keen on pressing criminal charges before the Comelec – Department of Justice Task Force after the election.

Speaking to reporters, Ana de Villa-Singson, PPCRV media communications director, said they are confirming reports of vote buying in places of Nueva Ecija, Angeles City in Pampanga, Binangonan in Rizal, and in Mariveles Bataan.

The PPCRV said verifications and collating of information are being done before reporting it to the Comelec. Marie A. Surbano, Aycth S. dela Cruz, Gerry Baldo and Benjamin B. Pulta, Daily Tribune