Trying to make sense out of the May 9 polls

>> Sunday, May 15, 2022

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

UP to this time, numerous reports on media and online platforms are surfacing of malfunctioning vote counting machines (VCMs), pre-programmed results, vote-buying, coercion among others during the May 9 elections
    Following these, all eyes are now on the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) days after the partial and unofficial tally of the election results came out.
    But contrary to the knowledge of many, according to an article by Dhel Nazario, “the poll watchdog was not conducting a manual vote count but rather a parallel count.”
    Nazario quoted PPCRV spokesperson lawyer Vann Dela Cruz, “it’s done by matching the electronically transmitted election returns (ERs) with the physically printed ones which were both generated by the VCMs. But since there was already a reliable source of transmitted ERs such as the transparency server and the canvass being conducted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), then why was there a need for a parallel count?”
    ***
Dela Cruz said when the Automated Election System (AES) was first introduced, there were skeptics who were wondering if there was a possibility that the numbers transmitted by the VCM can be intercepted. “Once the VCM transmits into the cyberspace, someone might intercept the data. Intercept it, change the figures and once it reaches the server if the VCM only transmitted 10 votes, it may become 20),” he explained.
    The solution was before the VCMs even transmit the election returns, eight pre-transmitted copies will be printed first. One of which will be given to the PPCRV.
    “The election return transmitted by the same VCM, which it printed and sent into the cyberspace to be received by the server…should be a match. That’s the idea,” he said.
    ***
A press time, the poll watchdog said it has fully encoded a total of 16,820 election returns (ERs) so far which resulted in a 100 percent match.
    When asked if the match meant there was no discrepancy found, Dela Cruz said that was what the data showed and that they were just sharing it with the public.
    Is the PPCRV the only one who can conduct this unofficial parallel count every election?
    According to Dela Cruz, they’re not. He said other groups may file a petition before the Comelec to become an accredited citizen’s arm.
    Groups must also provide credentials stating that they have the capability such as manpower to do the task, and they are competent enough to receive the fourth copy of the ER
    Are the printed ERs reliable?
    ***
During a talk on Friday, May 13, Dela Cruz did a test with the crowd where they determined if the “hash code” written on each ER wherever their place of origins are, is the same; and they were. He explained this means that these came from the same VCMs and programmed with the same source codes.
    The poll watchdog has so far reportedly received 24,640 ERs.
    Most of the ERs came from the National Capital Region (NCR), certain provinces of Luzon particularly in Pangasinan, Laguna, Bulacan, Cavite, Ilocos Norte, Sorsogon, and the province of Rizal. There were also ERs that came from Mindanao, which were from Misamis Oriental. They have not yet processed ERs from Visayas.
    ***
Meanwhile, a PPCRV official on Thursday, May 12, reiterated the church-based poll watchdog’s task was to compare physical election returns to the electronically-transmitted ones and not recount the tally of votes for the May 2022 polls.
    “Others are thinking that we are recounting. That is not in the law and it is not what we are doing. It can be done, but that is not our mandate and that is not what is in the law. We do not recount but compare),” said PPCRV spokesperson Atty. Vann Dela Cruz in a press briefing on Thursday, May 12.
    He said as mandated by the law, the PPCRV receives the fourth copy of the pre-transmitted ERs. Dela Cruz explained that these “pre-transmission physical ERS” will be compared to the electronically-transmitted ones.
In relation to this, a total of 24,640 ERs have reportedly arrived at PPCRV’s command center in the University of Santo Tomas as of 11:20 a.m on Thursday. Of these ERS, only 16,820 have been fully-encoded.
    “These fully-encoded ERs have been matched or validated with the electronic transmission and the first batch of validation yielded 100% match,” said Dela Cruz.
    The expert debunked circulating claims that there had been chaos at PPCRV’s command center.
    “We are in a good situation here and we do not see any disturbance. We are calm here at PPCRV. We continue to do this and we continue to receive ERs, we continue to validate, and we continue to match results,” added Dela Cruz.
    ***
Despite numerous reports that surfaced on social media during election day on May 9 regarding malfunctioning VCMs, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) maintained that no voter disenfranchisement occurred.
    In a press briefing earlier on Tuesday, May 10, Comelec Acting Spokesperson John Rex C. Laudiangco said that they did not even need to extend the voting hours since they “delivered their commitment” since those who lined up at 7 p.m. they were allowed to vote no matter how long it took.
    He mentioned that all the lessons learned during the conduct of the May 2022 elections will be taken into the consideration of the poll body to make sure that the next elections in 2025 will be better.
    ***
On the other hand, Commissioner Marlon Casquejo stated that the malfunctioning VCMs that were encountered on election day were not significant as compared to 2019, stating that over 5,000 machines had problems during that time.
    For this election, he said that 915 machines encountered problems. He added that it will be computed and multiplied for example to at least 500 registered voters, it’s significantly smaller than the 64 million plus registered voters.
    “We all know that machines have glitches. There’s no such thing as perfect system. Especially machines. Even cellphones like iPhones or any high-end cellphone might freeze,” he said.
    “Things as such as those really happen and out of 106,000 only 900 malfunctioned and there’s a reason behind it,” he added.
    What’s important, he explained, is that the said glitches do not affect election results. Casquejo stated that this may be the last time that the said VCMs will be used and for the next elections in 2025, they may ask Congress to lease out new VCMs or any machine or technology that is allowed that can do the job.
    Meanwhile, according to reports, people were not that convinced of poll results due to speculations aired on social media that for one, an IT expert from China headed a group that pre-programmed vote machines, thus the huge gap of votes between presidential contenders Bongbong Marcos and Leni Robredo.
    People were also wondering why there were no victory parties or wild dancing on the streets.   
 

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