PPCRV asks Comelec for manually uploaded data

(Updated 9:34 p.m.) The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) has asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to provide the citizens' arm with data regarding how many votes in the automated elections were manually transmitted by members of the board of election inspectors (BEI) around the country.

 

In a phone interview with GMA News Online on Thursday, PPCRV chair Henrietta de Villa said this call was made because of information that some members of the BEI brought compact flash (CF) cards to municipal or city canvassing centers when transmission via precinct count optical system (PCOS) machines failed. CF cards are memory cards that contain the tally of votes in a particular precinct.  

De Villa said the PPCRV wants to know how many of remaining more or less 24 percent of the unofficial count were manually uploaded data, so the poll watchdog can also know how much more electronically transmitted election returns it expects to receive.

 

She also said information about manually uploaded data is being sought because these data are not expected to be received by the Comelec's transparency server, because they were already uploaded to the consolidation and canvassing system (CCS), which goes directly to the National Board of Canvassers. The electronic transmissions that the PPCRV gets from the Comelec transparency server are transmitted from PCOS machines. As of 3:27 p.m. Thursday, the rate of electronically transmitted election returns is at 76.15 percent, which represents 59,528 of 78,166 ERs or 31,484,654 of 52,333,801 registered voters. 

De Villa said the list the PPCRV wants to obtain contains information such sa the number of votes and the areas where data was manually uploaded.

 

"Pag nag-proclaim na (ng mga nanalong senador), sana ibigay din sa amin yung list ng mga manually uploaded (transmissions)," De Villa said.

 

De Villa also said the PPCRV has already asked the Comelec to explain why transmissions were slower this time around.

 

Earlier in the day, Elections chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. said he was set to order the temporary stop in the release of unofficial election results coming from the Commission on Election’s transparency server which is being accessed by watchdogs and media.

 

The move is due to the expected proclamation of about five to six winning senatorial candidates on Thursday evening.

 

But Brillantes clarified that even if the unofficial results will be suspended, the results will still be received by PPCRV and others who have access to the transparency server, only that the same should not be released.

 

“We are just suspending the transparency results while we are proclaiming the winners tapos they can resume after the proclamation and they can continue to publish after the proclamation,” he said.

 

“Break lang sila, suspension lang during proclamation day. If it will take us two days, magkakaroon ng suspension for two days. Once we have proclaimed all the 12 then the transparency can continue,” he added.

 

But De Villa maintained that even if the transmission of results from the transparency server resumes, the figures will still not reflect manually uploaded data, thus its need to ask Comelec for a list. Formal request In an interview with reporters after the proclamation of six winning senatorial candidates, Brillantes said the PPCRV should send a formal request to the poll body regarding it.   “Wala naman kaming formal request na natatanggap, kung meron e di aaksyunan namin. If we do not find it unreasonable, we will grant it. Wala naman kaming tinatago dito, everything is all transparent,” he said.   “Kaya lang hindi naman pwede na pag sinabi nila e ibibigay na lang naming basta, there has to be a request,” Brillantes added.  — RSJ/BM, GMA News