The ballots that will be used in the Philippine’s first automated elections will still have special UV markings that will be used to make sure that the ballots are authentic. BEIs will be issued UV lamps which will make the UV markings visible and thus enable them to verify the authenticity of the ballots.
This is contrary to the statement made by Liberal Party campaign manager Butz Abad who recently said that fake ballots can now pass through the PCOS machines.
He said that the ultraviolet safety features of the PCOS machines had been disabled. “Fake ballots can pass through the machines.’
Comelec Comissioner Gregorio Larrazabal clarified that BEI’s will be issued UV lamps which will be used to verify the presence of special UV marking on the ballots.
“For me what is important is there is still a way to authenticate the UV ink. The ballot itself is authenticated by the PCOS machines,” he said.
The special UV markings on the ballots is ONLY ONE of SEVERAL security features that will be used to ensure the authenticity of ballots that will be used in the 2010 elections.
Ballots are encoded to work with just one specific machine through a bar code system. The ballots are sealed and kept sealed until election day. The PCOS machines that will be used to read the filled out ballots are programmed to receive only a specific number of ballots.
Even if it were possible to flood the country with fake ballots, the perpetrator of such an operation would have to know the specific bar code for each precinct where he intends to send the fake ballots to and the specific number of ballots per precinct. Even then, the perpetrator would need to have the cooperation of 3 or more people in each precinct, so that they’ll use the fake ballots instead of the real ballots.
False alarms were raised over the possibility of fake ballots flooding the system when Consortium on Electoral Reforms executive director Ramon Casiple said that Comelec decided to shut off the UV readers of the PCOS machines after they failed to read many ballots during the laboratory test last January.
As it turns out, Casiple was ABSENT in the Comelec meeting where it was decided that BEI’s would be given UV lamps which would be used to manually verify the authenticity of the ballots.
In the early part of this year, members of the opposition took turns in warning that a revolt will certainly follow should election fail in 2010.
On the surface, such statements can look like our senators and a number of candidates are merely pressuring Comelec and Smartmatic-TIM to make sure that the country’s first automated polls succeed.
However, if you look more deeply into the statements made in the early part of this year and the statement made by Presidential Candidate Noynoy Aquino about two weeks ago, you might get a feeling that the so-called revolt may not be so much a warning but an actual “PLAN B” in a strategy to end President Gloria Arroyo’s hold on power.
Actually, looking back at history, particularly with reference to the “walk out of Comelec canvassers” in 1986, you will see that it really doesn’t take much to justify a revolt.
Here’s an entry in Wikipedia about the 1986 walk out of Comelec canvassers:
The elections were held on February 7, 1986.[1] The official election canvasser, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), declared Marcos the winner. The final tally of the COMELEC had Marcos winning with 10,807,197 votes against Aquino’s 9,291,761 votes. On the other hand, the final tally of the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), an accredited poll watcher, had Aquino winning with 7,835,070 votes against Marcos’ 7,053,068 points.[15] This electoral exercise was marred by widespread reports of violence and tampering of election results, culminating in the walkout of 29 COMELEC computer technicians to protest the deliberate manipulation of the official election results to favor Ferdinand Marcos. The walkout was considered as one of the early “sparks” of the People Power Revolution. The walkout also served as an affirmation to allegations of vote-buying, fraud, and tampering of election results by the KBL[16].
Because of reports of alleged fraud, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued a statement condemning the elections. The United States Senate also passed a resolution stating the same condemnation.[1] US president Ronald Reagan issued a statement calling the fraud reports as “disturbing”.[17] In response to the protests, COMELEC claimed that Marcos with 53 percent won over Aquino. However, NAMFREL countered that the latter won over Marcos with 52 percent of votes.[18]
On February 15, Marcos was proclaimed by COMELEC and Batasang Pambansa as the winner amidst the controversy.All 50 opposition members of the Parliament walked out in protest. The Filipino people refused to accept the results, however, asserting that Aquino was the real victor. Both “winners” took their oath of office in two different places, with Aquino gaining greater mass support. Aquino also called for coordinated strikes and mass boycott of the media and businesses owned by Marcos’s cronies. As a result, the crony banks, corporations, and media were hit hard, and their shares in the stock market plummeted to record levels.
Prior to the Snap Election in 1986, people opposed to the Marcos Regime expressed doubt and cynicism over the elections. Some openly said that the elections would be ‘lutong macau’ or that its results would be pre-determined or that the results would be manufactured to favor Marcos.
Back then, Marcos — perhaps in a bid to give the elections additional credibility — touted that canvassing would be conducted using computers to ensure the accuracy of results.
To stage a reprisal of the series of walk outs after the 1986 snap elections, it would necessary to put a number of things in place long before the elections:
1. Doubt over the electoral process.
2. An independent count that would show results favoring Noynoy Aquino.
3. A series of dramatic events to bolster claims that elections had either failed or were rigged.
In terms of sowing doubt in the electoral process, Noynoy Aquino yesterday was reported as saying:
With just 41 days left before Election Day, Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III voiced doubts that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) could prevent a failure of elections and urged the public to remain vigilant.
In a press conference, Aquino said he had directed his campaign staff in the Liberal Party to confer with the church, election watchdogs, the diplomatic community, the military and police to avert the elections from being sabotaged through cheating or forced failure.
Aquino, the LP’s presidential candidate in the May 10 elections, said the military should be reminded to remain “apolitical,” calling the armed forces “a very necessary institution in preserving the stability of the state.”
In the rest of the article, Florencio Butz Abad (the LP campaign manager) enumerated a number of scenarios of how elections could fail.
1. “He said that the ultraviolet safety features of the PCOS machines had been disabled. “Fake ballots can pass through the machines.’”
2. “Abad also warned against what he said was the absence of a plan to conduct random auditing and a backup plan in case of computer breakdown and the delayed training of the board of election inspectors and technicians.”
3. Abad said one of three worst-case scenarios could occur in May—massive and wholesale cheating to favor the President’s candidate; partial failure of elections (no proclamation for the president, vice president and the senators) leaving the new House to elect its Speaker to take care of government; and a complete failure of elections with a military junta taking over.
The first two issues brought up by Abad have already been answered by officials of the Comelec as well as the officers of Smartmatic-TIM.
An independent count, however, may not be possible in the way that NAMFREL did a quick count in 1986 as well as 2004.
All things considered, we think it would be wise for Noynoy Aquino and members of the LP to refrain from casting doubt on the electoral process even before the first ballot is cast. For all we know, if in case Noynoy Aquino wins, his nearest rival — Manny Villar — may use the issues raised against poll automation to claim that he was cheated.
March rolls in on good news — ALL OF THE SMARTMATIC-TIM PCOS MACHINES HAVE BEEN DELIVERED.
The delivery of the PCOS Machines are the most tangible sign that the 2010 Automated Elections is pushing through despite all the brickbats thrown and predictions of doom that were divined.
All 82,200 PCOS Machines in the Country – SMARTMATIC TIM
MANILA , Philippines (Feb 27, 2010) — On Saturday February 27th, all the required 82,200 PCOS machines are already in the country.
Cesar Flores, President of Smartmatic Asia Pacific said that the last 13,580 units of PCOS machines arrived at the International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) on February 27 completing the required number of machines to be used for the May 10 automated elections.
“We are proud to announce that all the PCOS machines are already in the Philippines, and the implementation calender is being kept as planned” Flores said.
A shipment of 7,200-PCOS aboard a Yan Ming vessel (YMLU4831562) docked at the ICTSI terminal at 7:00AM today. A few hours later, a Wan Hai vessel (WHLU4082939) laden with 6,380-PCOS units arrived for docking.
Flores said that with all the PCOS machines already in the country, the full automation of the May elections is guaranteed.
According to Flores, SMARTMATIC TIM had consistently shown good faith by its compliance with deadlines.
“This latest delivery means that all the 76,000 precincts all over the Philippines will each get a PCOS machine, with another 6,000 spare machines on standby,” Flores said, adding that “We reiterate our commitment to the Filipino people: the automation system will provide fast and accurate elections.”
But despite the good news, certain personalities claiming to be guardians and watchdogs of automated elections are expected to pick nits and bones.
Their real objective is not to ensure that the country’s first automated elections happens without a hitch, but rather, to scuttle and derail this historic elections for a number of reasons:
- so that they can put in place their favored automated election system which doesn’t pass the requirements set by RA9369.
- so that their political patron can take advantage of the many flaws of a manual election. (There is actually an exchange of e-mails showing the deep connection between so-called watchdogs and a certain candidate.)
- so that they can promote and establish themselves as the foremost authorities in automated election fraud, thereby reaping tons of cash in exchange for their expert opinions in whatever electoral disputes that will be filed.
DJ Mo Twister appears in this 1 minute TV commercial that SHOWS people how to vote using the automated election system or Precinct Count Optical Scan (P-COS) machine.
When I heard him blabbering about it last year, it took me some time to figure out what he really meant. Only by watching the guys at Smartmatic-TIM demonstrate the PCOS machine on TV did I really understand what DJ Mo Twister was saying.
Now, perhaps, much to the relief of everyone out there who wants to know how to vote using an automated election machine, the Comelec has come out with this ad.
A recent article from Reuters identified “Five political risks to watch in the Philippines” and these are:
1. The successor to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
2. Internal security
3. Corruption and the rule of law
4. Government effectiveness
5. Environment
Identified as a crucial element to watch out for under the heading of ” SUCCESSOR TO PRESIDENT GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO” is if the country’s electoral system produces a clear and credible winner for the position of President in the May 2010 polls.
Here’s that excerpt:
The Philippines elects a new president on May 10, and many of the candidates are already making populist policy promises. The race remains wide open and there is no clear favourite at this stage despite the son of revered former President Cory Aquino taking a strong lead in opinion polls. Former President Joseph Estrada is also among the candidates, which is a worry for markets because of his lack of fiscal discipline and stories of policy being formulated during late-night drinking sessions with gambling buddies. Other frontrunners are billionaire property developer-turned-politician Manuel “Manny” Villar, and former defence chief Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro. [ID:nSP510426]
What to watch:
– The candidates and their platforms. As clear frontrunners emerge, their policy pledges and the implications for investment, governance and security will impact markets. [ID:nMAN118467]
– The stance of leading candidates on fiscal management will be a particular focus, given the necessity of boosting revenues and curbing spending to reduce the budget deficit.
– The worst-case scenario for markets would be a failed election that does not produce a clear and credible winner. This could be because of severe election violence and intimidation, or possible problems in a new automated voting system that is being tried for the first time. This outcome would weaken the peso <PHP=> and the stock market <.PSI>, with some analysts saying the main stock index could tumble below 2,600 points. [ID:nSGE60K025]
What strikes me is that despite the obvious importance of ensuring the success of the country’s first ever automated elections, more attention has been given to the possibility of its failure than the clear and definite strides made toward ensuring that poll automation runs without a hitch in May.
In November and December last year, whenever Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said that he was worried over what he virtually described as a “lack of progress” in the automation of the May polls, the statement hogged the frontpages of newspapers and first gaps of broadcast news programs. In a way, it seemed that the Comelec was saying that if automated election failed, it would not be the fault of the Comelec and all blame would fall on the supplier — Smartmatic-TIM.
All considered, poll automation doesn’t have many friends and a lot more people would benefit from its dismal failure rather than its success.
Politicians, despite all their chest thumping about their personal integrity and calls for clean elections, would rather have manual elections because this would enable them to resort to their huge store of tried and tested formulas for winning at all costs — or prices, if you want to be direct about it.
Certainly, the hoards of middlemen and brokers of industry of “winning at all costs” certainly don’t want automated elections to succeed because there is no way to manipulate the results. You can manipulate the voters, for sure, but that would be a costlier enterprise than just waiting for the ballots to arrive at the canvassing centers and doing their magic in the comfort of a hotel. Money won’t change hands for an assured win at the polls, or at least, not as much.
As the election draws near, we think that what is more crucial is not spotting the kinks in poll automation and wailing that the world is about to end. What we ought to be doing is to plan out steps and make ready to ensure that it does succeed.
Poll watchers, instead of devoting their time to watching the tally of ballots at precincts, should be mobilized to ensure that everyone who can vote, actually goes out and vote. They should also re-orient themselves to reporting any untoward incidents (ballots and PCOS machines not being delivered to the precinct, violence, and other activities that would disrupt the order on elections day.)
If poll automation succeeds, it will be unlike other elections were only candidates win. If poll automation succeeds, every Filipino would have won a crucial victory against the proven evils of manual elections and be on the road towards a real, monumental change in political culture.
"Machines don’t cheat, it’s people who cheat and people can use the machine to cheat.’ I like this quote from Comelec Executive Director Jose Tolentino. It's simple and clear and it basically puts into proper perspective this whole issue about alleged electoral fraud in the elections last May. Indeed, the evidence presented to the House [...] […]
Philippine Star columnist William Esposo is at it again. In his latest column titled “How come that we’re the first to put our country down?”, the Chair Wrecker writes: Hostage Crisis Handling can be easily addressed by proper staffing, better planning and training and the procurement of better equipment. The bigger Philippine tragedy which is [...] […]
The sun is rising and it is the color of scrambled eggs. After Conrado De Quiros endorsed Noynoy Aquino for President, we sort of lost interest in reading and discussing his column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. It was not because we disagreed with his choice for President, but rather, it was because we disagreed […]
