Former Sen. Richard Gordon on Monday asked the Supreme Court to require the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to activate the Voter Verification Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) feature of the voting-counting machines for the May elections to allow for a receipt to be printed after a voter casts his vote.
In his 24-page petition for mandamus, Gordon, who is running for senator, insisted that the Comelec should enforce Section 7(e) of Republic Act No. 9369 or the Automated Elections System (AES) Law, which states that the VVPAT is one of the minimum system capabilities of the automated election system and a major security feature of the automated voting machine.
Gordon pointed out that Sections 6(e), (f) and (n) is "clear and unequivocal" in mandating the use of the VVPAT, adding that the provision must be interpreted in its plain and concise meaning and that the Comelec has no option not to implement it.
“The Comelec has been a 'recidivist' in violating Republic Act No. 9369. The last two automated elections in the country have not been credible because of its failure to implement the safeguards such as presenting the source code for review, the use of digital signatures was disabled and the random manual audit was announced," said Gordon.
"Because of this continued failure, the integrity of the elections has not been restored as the automated elections law intended. This has got to stop,” he added.
In the petition, Gordon, principal author of the AES Law, and the Bagumbayan-VNP Movement, Inc. noted that Congress has the Constitutional duty to protect the sanctity of the ballot, which is why he ensured that the safeguards aimed to do this were injected in RA 9369.
“Several safeguards were put in place to ensure the sanctity of the ballot. Among these safeguards was the VVPAT. A voter verified paper audit trail consists of physical paper records of voter ballots as voters have cast them on an electronic voting system," Gordon said.
"The voter-verified part refers to the fact that the voter is given the opportunity to verify that the choices indicated on the paper record correspond to the choices that the voter has made in casting the ballot," he added.
The Comelec had expressed reservations on activating the VVPAT feature of the vote-counting machines.
Comelec spokesman James earlier said in an interview on GMA News TV that it takes about 13 seconds to print a receipt, meaning each machine would have to run an estimated additional seven hours for the receipts.
Jimenez said the Comelec is worried the receipts could be used either in vote buying or in disrupting the elections in a particular precinct.
Sought for reaction regarding Gordon's petition, Jimenez said since the matter is now with the high court, the Comelec "will have to wait and see how the Court responds, of course."
He, however, noted that the decision not to issue receipts "was not taken lightly."
"Just to reiterate, the decision to disable this feature was not taken lightly. A long period of consultation and public demonstration was undertaken, as well as several time and motion studies, all of which indicated that the use of the 'receipt' would have adverse effects on the voting process," he said.
In the petition, Gordon expressed apprehension that with the May 9 polls only less than 100 days away, the Comelec is set anew to commit the same violation and will do away with an indispensable security feature that will ensure transparency, honesty and the sanctity of the ballot.
“With the May 9, 2016 Elections fast approaching, Petitioners are witnessing anew the callousness and refusal of the Respondent to comply with the laws on automated elections…Petitioners strongly believe that unless Respondent is ordered by this Honorable Court to fulfill its mandatory duty under the said laws, legal violations would be committed and the credibility of May 9, 2016 Elections would be jeopardized and compromised, as were the 2010 and 2013 Elections,” he said.
“The right to suffrage is a powerful tool placed in the hands of every Filipino giving them the ability to change the course of our country’s future. Therefore, it is essential that the sanctity and credibility of our election system be continuously protected from threats putting its results in question. In order for the system to be protected, it is essential that implementation of various security systems must be complied with,” read the petition. —with Rose-An Jessica Dioquino/KBK, GMA News
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