NAMFREL: ACM performance 7 out of 10, transmission is bigger problem

The National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) on Wednesday rated the performance of the automated counting machines a seven out of 10, noting that the transmission of votes was the bigger problem.

“Overall system ng ACM ay seven, dahil malaking problema actually 'yung transmission. Kung ipunin natin 'yung problema sa ACM, it does not compare to the problem with the transmission,” NAMFREL national chairperson Lito Averia said at Kapihan sa Manila Bay.

(The performance of the ACM is seven, because, actually, we have a big problem with the transmission of the votes. If we gather the problems regarding ACM, it does not compare to the problem with the transmission.)

“Yung problema sa transmission, nandyan 'yung election results na kung hindi natin maibibigay sa publiko, malaking katanungan na naman 'yan. Many are likely to speculate na cheating 'yan,” he added.

(The problem was with the transmission as it includes the election results which if we will not be able to provide to the public would cast a question on the polls...Many are likely speculate that there’s cheating going on.)

On early Tuesday, media outlets observed that partial, unofficial results reflected from the Comelec media server showed a decrease in votes despite the continuous increase in the election returns (ERs).

They discovered that transmissions sent by precincts were duplicated during consolidation in the Comelec's server.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) explained that the alleged discrepancy occurred because no program was in place to clean the duplicate data as a result of the processing.

Comelec chairperson George Garcia assured the public that there was no vote shaving or vote padding that happened.

The poll body also said the ACMs deployed in this year’s midterm elections performed well despite reports of glitches.

There were some instances where the ACM had technical issues, causing long queues in several precincts.

Comelec noted that 311 machines were replaced due to minor issues.

Meanwhile, Averia gave Comelec an 8/10 rating.

"Talagang nagbago ang attitude ng Comelec.  Bukas na bukas sila sa suggestion and recommendation (The attitude of Comelec is very different. They are very open to suggestions and recommendations)," Averia said.—AOL, GMA Integrated News

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