Poll watchdog hits Comelec for being on 'test' mode on E-day

 

A poll watch dog criticized the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday for running the national and local elections on a "test run" mode.

 

"After two automated elections, the third was like on a test run mode again with the passengers (voters) subjected to stress, uncertainties, harassment, long queues and fatigue, and even heat strokes," Automated Election System (AES) Watch said a statement. 

 

AES said Comelec had three years to prepare for the elections but the voters still experienced delays in their polling precincts, malfunctioning vote counting machines (VCMs), and glitches in the transmission of election results since the Boards of Election Inspectors were not properly trained.

 

"The Comelec had all three years to prepare for the last election so that to reason that it had limited time to conduct the exercise is unacceptable. The poll body’s announcement weeks before the election that it was 100 percent ready was deceptive," the poll watch dog said.

 

Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said on Monday that the general elections still went smoothly despite delays caused by faulty VCMs. 

 

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/565660/news/nation/comelec-chief-elections-went-smoothly

 

AES noted the percentage of VCMs that failed to transmit the results were very alarming compared to the three previous automated elections. 

 

AES said precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines that failed to transmit in 2010 were only at nine percent and 23 percent in 2013, while 2,500 VCMs have yet to transmit results in this elections.

 

"Contrary to claims of the (Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting) and some foreign observers, however, the elections was far from being a 'success' as far as the automation system is concerned – it was even worst compared to the 2010 and 2013 automated elections," AES said.

 

Meanwhile, AES urged Comelec and the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on the Automated Election System to hold Smartmatic into account for benefitting taxpayers' money despite non-compliance to the Automated Election Law and unaudited expenditures.

 

"It’s about time for Smartmatic to call it quits and for Comelec to made into account. It’s about time to review the election modernization law. The right to vote has been at the mercy of the machine," the group said.

 

AES urged for full disclosure of the transmission of results and the physical transportation of the SD cards to the board of canvassers in future elections.

 

Moving forward, AES challenged the incoming administration of presumptive president Rodrigo Duterte to roll out real electoral reforms.

 

"We challenge the incoming administration to begin real reform of the election system and Comelec management: holding accountable those who perennially make poll automation an exercise of speed and convenience over transparency, accountability, security and accuracy," the poll watchdog said. — APG, GMA News