DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / May 6, 2013) – A poll watchdog expressed alarm over technical problems on the precinct count optical scan units which the Commission on Elections will use on the May 13 local and national elections in the Philippines.
University of the Philippines Professor Aya Ragragio, convener of Kontra Daya – Mindanao, said her group is alarmed over the technical glitches of the PCOS machines and to the unpreparedness of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) and their lack of technical support.
“We regret that the poor outcome of the FTS now would reflect the outcome of the actual polls, which could lead to election failure,” Agrario said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
She said: “Our field monitors reported cases of PCOS machines unexpectedly shutting down, machines accepting wrongly-shaded ballots, memory cards that are not detected, and PCOS keys that are not functioning.”
This, during a documentation done by their volunteers deployed in Carlos Villa Abrille Elementary School, Kabacan Central Elementary School, SIR Elementary School and Magallanes Elementary School for district 1; Buhangin Central Elementary School for district 2; Calinan Central Elementary School and Marilog Central Elementary School – all in Davao City.
“We do not only have problems with the machines. We also have problems with the preparedness of the BEIs and the technical support from Smartmatic-COMELEC,” Ragragio said.
The group reported the case of a BEI in Kabacan Central Elementary School who confessed she does not know how to attach the battery of the PCOS machine. The BEI said it was not part of their training.
In Magallanes Elementary School, a PCOS machine stopped working and the COMELEC-Smartmatic technician advised the BEI to remove the compact-flash card, a protocol that is not allowed while polls are not yet finished.
“We also monitored a case in Buhangin and also in Kabacan, Bucana where a BEI reads aloud the PIN code of the PCOS allowing everyone around to hear. These happened because, aside from the fact that the COMELEC neglected the proper training of BEIs. There were also no COMELEC personnel present in many areas. This is supposed to be the final dry-run of the actual polls on Monday next week,” Ragragio saic.
The group also reported PCOS machines that were not properly sealed and ballot boxes that were not locked after the FTS.
Krista Melgarejo, the youth convener of Kontra Daya, said their group has long doubted the automated elections system. She said her group is yet dissatisfied with the transparency of the system.
“We still have outstanding issues with the availability of the source code to be used and the security of the transmission. Now, we have other things to worry about. These only show that the COMELEC is much unprepared, yet very eager to pursue the AES even if it threatens the sanctity of the people’s votes,” Melgarejo said.
Several areas in Mindnaao also tested the PCOS machines.
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