'Smart-magic'

DIE HARD III

Herman Tiu Laurel

2/6/2013

Daily Tribune

News reports the past week on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) "mock polls" ran under these headlines: "PCOS machine rejects ballots during mock elections;" "Dry run exposes glitches in poll equipment;" "UPIS — ballot rejections;" "Balota sa mock polls sa Maynila, 'di tinanggap ng PCOS machine;" and "Ilang balota, 'di tinanggap ng PCOS machine sa mock elections sa Maguindanao." Mock elections in Iriga City did not push through since there was no transmission signal; in Camarines Sur, the PCOS (precinct count optical scan) machines rejected the ballots. Despite these "glitches" in six out of 11 test areas (or over 50 percent of the tests), Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes and his "Sancho Panza," James Jimenez, say there were only a "few glitches during mock elections" and that these glitches were "manageable."

VoteReportPH and Kontra Daya volunteers monitoring the UPIS mock elections noted: "BEI and Comelec officers inside the precinct did not observe rules of the actual conduct of election. Some officials had been tinkering (with) the PCOS even after the initialization, prohibited in the Comelec General Instructions; thermal paper used (did) not properly fit in the PCOS printer; PCOS failed to accept and read ballots." In some cases where the machines did not initially perform, James Jimenez said, "This is speculative but since they have not been used the past two years maybe they have to be warmed up first."

Speculative? What happens on the day of elections when tens of thousands of the 76,000 machines don't start while voters wait if "warming up" will finally make the machines work or not? Will Comelec then be able to rush the replacements to those tens of thousands of precincts? Of the 18 remote municipalities from where the PCOS sent results to the municipal level and to the main server, only 14 were able to directly transmit electronic results from beginning to end. In response, Jimenez said, "We believe that what happened in the field test is not that critical because it's precisely just part of the shakedown process that we are doing."

The use of the term, "shakedown," is highly unsettling. Was that a subconscious slip? Jimenez adds, "So far, we believe it was a successful field test. We don't call it a failure since we have a contingency for those that are not yet able to transmit the results and they are still being tried (as of press time)." Still being tried, three months to election day? Spending billions upon billions still has not provided the reliable system the computer election proponents assured the public this would provide? There are just so many questions: The Comelec decided to keep the field test away from media and the public, which has led poll watchdog Automated Election System (AES) Watch to question the Comelec's intent. The public should be equally suspicious.

At the same time, the Supreme Court (SC) was again asked to stop the consummation of the contract between the Comelec and Smartmatic for the supply of compact flash (CF) cards. The deal smacks of a sweetheart arrangement. The lowest bidder in the CF cards bidding, LDLA Marketing, filed a protest and has gone to the SC to stop the negotiated deal, claiming "the Comelec conspired with Smartmatic in closing the P45-million deal for the 82,000 CF cards" when the poll body allowed it to lower its prices to match LDLA's.

The Comelec is really behaving in the most peculiar manner when it comes to Smartmatic, favoring it despite clear infirmities in its voting system and its contracts. Brillantes admits, for example, that he has been in communication with Smartmatic's technology supplier, Dominion Voting Systems (DVS), since 2012 and knows that the required source code Smartmatic is supplying is not certified as required by law. Despite these major infirmities, Brilliantes still assures the public that the source code and software of the PCOS machines are legal and kosher. Worse, Smartmatic's Cesar Flores insists their source code is certified, contradicting DVS' information to Brillantes. Who's lying, Flores or Brilliantes? Does Brilliantes have no shame that he will allow a foreign company's spokesman to put him in such a bad light?

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo has accused the Comelec of "stonewalling" on questions about the integrity of the PCOS machines to be used in the May 2013 elections. Although Brillantes gave a briefing for the bishops last January, Pabillo said Brilliantes left them with more questions than answers. According to Pabillo, he has received information that so-called election operators were offering to "fix" a provincial gubernatorial race for P20 million and P70 million for the mayoralty race in a Metro Manila. Despite all these, the Comelec seems intent in just ceaselessly reiterating the claim that Smartmatic's PCOS machines are going to run "smoothly." What magic spell has Smartmatic cast on these Comelec officials?

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