COMELEC’S BIGGEST PROBLEMS IN 2013 POLLS: MEN, MONEY, MACHINES
THE problem will not be guns, goons and gold, but rather men, money and machines.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) admitted that they are facing multiple challenges over the 2013-midterm elections. The poll body is implementing stricter rules on campaign finance and forcing all candidates to abide by them. As for the holding of the country’s second automated polls, Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr., said: “We want to assure the public, most especially the Information Technology community, that we are sincere in working for a more improved Comelec. All of us want a clean, honest and credible automated election, why should we not work together?”
Brillantes acknowledged that they were lax in the past but vowed to be rigid on the implementation of rules come election period. At the same time, he downplayed the lawsuit filed in the US by Smartmatic International against its former partner Dominion Voting Systems, which supplies the source codes to the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines.
A lawyer for an election watchdog warned that President Benigno Aquino 3rd’s administration might lose the people’s confidence and the country’s economy is likely to suffer if there is a failure of elections next year.
Atty. Tranquil Salvador 3rd, the convenor of said that it is alarming to know that the 2013-midterm elections might be affected due to reports that bugs were found on the PCOS machines used in the 2010 polls. The Comelec leased the machines from Smartmatic, and later purchased them for use in next year’s polls.
Left unanswered is the question of how Smartmatic can fix all the bugs in the PCOS machines if Dominion does not provide the source codes, given the ongoing legal battle between the two.
It was earlier reported that Smartmatic filed a lawsuit against Dominion in the state of Florida over the latter’s alleged breach of a licensing agreement and tortuous interference with Smartmatic’s business. Smartmatic is accusing Dominion of allegedly withholding technology and services that had been licensed to them, and for its intentional actions to denigrate Smartmatic’s brand and
undermine its relationship with customers and prospects.
Smartmatic International is the technology provider for next year’s automated elections including 81,280 PCOS machines that will be used in the midterm elections.
The agreement between the two firms had previously allowed Smartmatic to use the software of Dominion to operate the PCOS machines and install the necessary software upgrades to enhance and address glitches in the system.
The worst-case scenario that Brillantes could foresee is of Smartmatic being unable to complete the enhancements Comelec had requested in 2011.
The poll chief assured critics that everything will be cleared, since they will be meeting with the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Automated Elections this week.
For his part, Smartmatic Asia- Pacific President Cesar Flores assured the public that the case would not affect the upcoming elections.
“We are filing a lawsuit looking for compensation for one of our providers. This is a common business situation that has no impact on our ability to serve our customers worldwide,” Flores told The Manila Times.
“Comelec is using a technology provided by Smartmatic, upon which we guarantee its proper functioning and compliance with their requirements. The relationship with our providers must not worry any of our customers,” he added.
Despite many detractors, the Comelec decided to buy the PCOS machines earlier this year. “So many detractors but we decided to finally exercise the obsolete purchase. Dahil sa mura
kinu- question po kami ng Supreme Court pero si- nustain na kami so tapos na yung issues sa machines,” Brillantes explained.
Meanwhile, the poll body is addressing other equally important issues. Brillantes reiterated that the tidying operation of Comelec aims to disqualify organizations that have multiple violations.
“Several other congressmen will be on their way out,” Brillantes said, adding that more incumbent party-list representatives would be removed “in the coming days.”
He also said that campaign finance rules should be strictly observed this election period. He believes that some candidates will be taking advantage of the party- lists just to promote themselves.
The monitoring of expenditures will promptly begin come the campaign period, which includes the right sizes of the posters, tarpaulins, donations and even fund raising.
“Hindi kami nagbibiro dito, seryoso talaga kami wala nga lang mapapakulong pero [we will] take advantage of the administrative fine. I- impose naming yan, hindi
kami nag bibiro [We’re not kidding here, We are serious, even if no one lands in jail. We will impose the administrative fines] . . . We will be very strict in all political propaganda,” the Comelec chief said.
Under Section 13 of Republic Act 7166, candidates for president and vice- president may spend only P10 per voter. Other candidates supported by a political party may spend only P3 per voter, while those not nominated by a political party may spend P5 for every voter. Political parties, on the other hand, are limited to spend only P5 for every voter registered in areas or districts, where they have official candidates.
The Comelec preparations for the midterm polls to be successful are ongoing, the chief said. “Other preparations for 2013 [ midterm election] are so many,
patong patong na nga e,” Brillantes said.
The Comelec will produce the final list of candidates in December, in time to print all the candidates’ names on the ballots.
“The reason is by January we need to commence on the configuration of the ballots, which means we configure every ballot in each town and municipality. Iba- iba kasi yan, sa senators at party-lists lang pare-pareha,” the chief explained.
But despite the obvious load of things to accomplish, Brillantes was confident that they will finish everything on time because of the recent appointment of their new commissioner, Mary Grace Cielo Padaca.
“The good that happened in the Comelec is that we are now complete, nadagdagan kami ng isang anghel ang pangalan Grace. Hindi na kami masyadong nag aaway, lagi kasing nakangiti si Ate Grace,” he said. “Tuloy tuloy lang ang trabaho, walang titigil,” the chief said.