‘Comelec should improve AES implementation’

Commissioner Rene Sarmineto of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) admitted that a lot needs to be improved in the automated election system (AES) used in the May 10 national and local elections despite it being “generally successful.” He spoke to The Manila Times in lieu of Comelec Chairman Jose Melo who declined to be interviewed for this special report.

Sarmiento said that the technical and logistical “deficiencies and glitches” that happened during the May 10 polls all suggest that the system and the method of implementation can be “improved and developed.”

He said that for future elections, the poll body must address the problems of long queues during election day since some registered voters claimed that they had to wait for more than three hours in order to cast their votes.

“The waiting time for voters should be short,” he said, adding that he had also proposed other improvements in the AES that needs to be improved.

He also mentioned the need for the Comelec to strengthen its voters’ education program, to simplify the process of finding the names of the voters on the list posted on each voting precinct, and reducing the number of voters in one clustered precinct.

Sarmiento, who is the only one among the seven-man Comelec team to witness two presidential elections, said that he had received some reports that voters checked the ovals beside the candidates’ names on the ballots instead of shading them as required.

But Sarmiento said that this was not the case with the majority of voters.  But there was a need for the poll body to make its voters’ education program more effective.

Several sectors in the past had criticized the commission for starting its voters’ education program very late.

Commissioner Sarmiento also pointed out that there seems to be a problem mostly with how people searched for their names on the voters’ lists posted outside each polling precincts. Numerous reports on election day claimed many voters were disenfranchised because they could not find their name on the list.

The poll body, because of the limited number of Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines they could afford to lease from Smartmatic-TIM, decided to cluster around four to five neighboring precincts under one large polling precinct. This resulted in clustered precincts with up to 1,000 registered voters in it.

There are about 76,347 clustered precincts nationwide that used one PCOS unit each.

And because voters from individual polling precincts were clustered under one precinct, they had to locate their new, clustered precinct on election day—something that most voters seemed to think was a “waste of time.”

The poll body, however, earlier claimed that they had sent out voters’ information sheet (VIS) to each registered voter containing information on where they should vote. Apparently, most voters claimed that no VIS ever reached them.

Lease or buy the PCOS machines

Sarmiento told The Times the Comelec has yet to “fully decide” whether or not to purchase the PCOS machines leased from Smartmatic-TIM. He said the commission en banc will hold a “meeting this Tuesday” about the matter of purchasing the machines for P2 billion.

For about P7.2 billion leased the 82,200 PCOS machines from Smartmatic-TIM, but the contract also provided for an “option to purchase” that allows the poll body to acquire for use in subsequent elections the PCOS units for an additional P2 billion.

Sarmiento told The Times if the evaluation of the external group of experts Comelec is consulting says the technology is really good (maganda ang technology) and will not become obsolete despite the advances in technology, then it would be okay to buy the PCOS machines.

He added that if the commission en banc decides to purchase the 82,200 PCOS machines, then these might be used for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections in October.

Smartmatic officials, however, claimed that the Barbados-based firm can ensure that the PCOS machines won’t be left behind by future technological advances.

“There are changes we can do in every elections to keep these people off guard. There are certain software improvements. They [cheaters] won’t be able to catch up,” Cesar Flores, Smartmatic president for Southeast Asia, said during a roundtable discussion with The Manila Times. Making these changes would be part of the purchase agreement.

He added that election machines do not usually change radically.

Alleged electoral fraud to be addressed

Sarmiento also said that the poll body will be addressing electoral protests and complaints filed by various politicians and election watchdogs regarding the supposed “irregularities” and “electoral fraud” committed during the May polls.

“I cannot decide if there is no evidence. We have to know if there is truly a basis for these allegations,” he said, adding however that it is better that these protesting groups should push on with their complaints through the courts.

“They have no proof to show us. They have so many claims of fraud but cannot present evidence that fraud was committed. Even ‘Koala Boy’ did not surface during the [congressional] hearings,” Sarmiento said.

“Koala Boy” refers to the moniker given by Rep. Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin Jr. to a man wearing a ski-mask and also named “Robin” who alleged in a video that he was paid P1.7 billion by Vice President-elect Jejomar Binay, incumbent mayor of Makati City, to rig the election in his favor.

He claimed that he was able to hack “several player PCOS machines” to accept fake ballots to ensure Binay’s win over his toughest rival, Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd of the Liberal Party. This alleged architect of the 2010 election scam also said that Binay chose President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd to receive additional three million votes rather than his party-mate, former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada.

Smartmatic’s Flores challenged complainants to submit “even one proof” that electoral fraud was committed during the May polls, but he said that “no one up to this day, was able to show me one, even one proof.” –BERNICE CAMILLE V. BAUZON REPORTER, Manila TImes