PPCRV records 1.61% mismatch in election returns –Comelec

The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) recorded a 1.61% mismatch involving some 240 election returns and the transparency media server for the 2022 elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Sunday.

In a press conference, Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco explained that the PPCRV had received 45,135 election returns (ERs), and had encoded 30,727 ERs. Of this number, 30,235 ERs recorded a 100% match.

“Mayroon lang po konti, 240 of those I’ve mentioned ay nagkaroon ng variants or mismatches. It accounts for 1.61%, pero nothing to worry about because the PPCRV itself made a statement if ever there is a variance, this would not affect the results of the election contest specifically the national positions. Secondly, the mismatch is now undergoing validation,” he said.

He added that the PPCRV will review the 240 ERs manually, revalidate them from their sources, and reprocess them once they have determined the cause.

Citing the PPCRV, Laudiangco said that a possible cause of mismatches may be due to volunteers being tired and not being able to read the numbers clearly.

“Doon po sa pinoprocess ng PPCRV, the matching rate remains at a high of 98.4% and we expect that the 240 mismatches will be resolved the soonest,” he added.

Further, the poll official also allayed concerns that the recent rise in mobile phone purchases were related to alleged reports of vote buying and vote selling.

“Coming from a lawyer’s point of view, the escalation of the purchases in itself does not automatically name anomalies or crime. In fact, hindi nga po krimen eh. Kung ganyan po kasi na merong pagbabawal sa escalation ng purchases, dapat maging krimen eh pero it is not a crime [it's not a crime even if there is a ban on the escalation of purchases],” Laudiangco said.

He said that the Comelec was closely coordinating with the National Telecommunications Commission which would give them feedback in case they detect any anomaly.

“DICT is reporting to us regularly and the NTC will be doing that too. Hintayin namin ‘yung official report nila [we will wait for their official report] regarding this and we will make a follow through in case NTC brings the matter to a subject of investigation,” he added.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday said 20 incidents of vote-buying were reported across the country so far amid the 2022 polls. — DVM, GMA News