Comelec to open source code to public

FOR the first time in the country’s election history, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will make available to the public the so-called source code, the humanreadable version of the voting software program, for anyone to see and test the customized automatic counting machines (ACM) that will be used in the 2025 midterm polls.

Chairman George Erwin Garcia on Tuesday said that the joint venture of Miru Systems of South Korea has agreed to open the source code review to the public.

“They are willing to gamble. They are willing to put it under public scrutiny so that it can be tested by anybody. This is the first time that Comelec received such an offer, meaning that they believe in the capability of their program,” Garcia said.

The source code is an independent auditor to ensure the system is free from malicious lines. The human-readable version of the election management system (EMS) customized for Philippine elections will be installed in the ACMs.

The EMS designs the configuration for the ACMs, such as precinct numbers and the number of voters per precinct, among others.

Garcia said it would take six months to customize the counting machines, two months to complete the international certification for the system and one month to review the source code.

The Comelec chief said that Miru Systems also offered to install cameras in polling areas to monitor the voting process.

The Comelec awarded Miru Systems the P18 billion contract for the lease of the 110 counting machines and other peripheral services that will be used in the 2025 elections.

Included in the contract is the provision of 104,345 ballot boxes, 2,200 servers/laptops and printers, pens and ballot printing, ballot paper, and ballot verification.

Comelec will set up 82 provincial repair hubs or one for each province, Garcia said.

“We will build 82 provincial hubs so that we would be able to repair whatever problems without bringing the machine to Manila,” he added.