Comelec starts decrypting ballots in Tolentino protest

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) started yesterday the decryption of ballot images involved in the election protest case filed by Presidential Political Adviser Francis Tolentino against Sen. Leila de Lima.

According to Comelec spokesman James Jimenez, the decryption started in the presence of representatives from the Senate Electoral Tribunal, which is hearing the case, and the camps of Tolentino and De Lima.

Tolentino lost the last and 12th senatorial slot to De Lima by around 1.3 million votes in the 2016 elections.

The protest case involves a total of 283,280 ballots from 597 clustered precincts located in 13 provinces nationwide.

Jimenez said 1,781 ballots from three clustered precincts – one from Akbar and two from Al Barka, both in the province of Basilan – were to be generated yesterday.

He added that the Comelec’s Election and Records Statistics Department (ERSD) estimated that the whole decryption process will take approximately one month.

The decryption is being carried out under the supervision of the ERSD, in accordance with strict guidelines promulgated by the commission in Comelec Resolution 10155 dated July 20, 2016.

The decrypted ballot images, taken from SD cards duly submitted by Comelec field officers, will be printed, with representatives of both parties, the poll body, and the SET affixing their initials on each page.

Printed and electronic (soft) copies of the ballot images will be turned over to the SET, along with the printed hash codes that form part of the election audit trail.

The two camps will also receive these printed hash codes.