Mock elections tomorrow

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will hold simulated elections tomorrow in 20 cities and towns across the country, covering more than 25,000 registered voters.

Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said the mock elections would provide the poll body the opportunity to correct or improve the procedure at the polling and canvassing centers during the elections.

“Through these mock elections, we can see which aspects of the elections need to be enhanced, corrected or improved so that on May 9, we can have a smooth and orderly election,” he said.

Among the barangays where the mock elections would take place are Tuktukan and Western Bicutan in Taguig City, Poblacion and Aguho in Pateros, Bagong Pag-asa and San Isidro Labrador in Quezon City, and 669 and 649 in Manila.

Other barangays where the simulated polls would take place are Poblacion Oeste and Pugaro in Dagupan City as well as Poblacion and Linmansangan in Alaminos, both in Pangasinan; Centro 1 (Poblacion) and Nambalan Norte in Tuguegarao City as well as Centro 1 (Poblacion) and Paddaya in Aparri, both in Cagayan; Poblacion and Osiao in Sorsogon City; and Camcaman and Calintaan in Matnog, also in Sorsogon, Albay.

The others are Barangays Poblacion and Linabuan in Kalibo, Aklan; Barangays Poblacion and Balabag in Malay, also in Aklan; Barangays Mabolo and Lusaran in Cebu City; Barangays Poblacion and Cabutongan in Santander, Cebu;

Barangays Central and Sinaman in Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte; Barangays Poblacion and Tinaplan in Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte; Barangays Dadiangas East and San Jose in General Santos City; Barangays Libertad and Canahay (Godwino) in Surallah, South Cotabato; Barangays San Raymundo and Tulay in Jolo, and Barangays Malinis and Parangbasak in Lamitan City, Basilan.

Through these exercises, Comelec said it intends to test and ensure the adequate security, accuracy, system and functional capability and integrity of the vote counting machines, transmission devices and consolidation and canvassing system.  

The Comelec is also aiming to simulate the process of election, deployment, actual voting and consolidation of votes, as well as transmission procedures and “to develop public confidence and acceptance of the automated election system.”

Comelec earlier hinted that some precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines were malfunctioning and failing to correctly read the ballots and may have been a result of a glitch in the source code.

The new vote-counting machines were reportedly rejecting one to two percent of the ballots during tests.

Comelec explained this was caused by an “overly sensitive self-diagnosing mechanism” of the VCM that was designed to prevent a repeat of the digital lines that appeared on the ballots in the 2013 elections.

Bautista said there should be no cause for concern in spite of the current technical issues.

“The problems have been contained. It is good that we discover these things now than later when we could no longer correct or improve them,” he said.

Comelec said there are 88 days before the polls and there is still enough time to fix these problems.

Comelec was supposed to start printing ballots last Monday but postponed this to Feb. 15 after the poll body discovered that it needed to rebuild the source code for the election management system.

The National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections on Tuesday said the Comelec is behind schedule in the printing of ballots, and compounding the delay with other technical problems may force the poll body to suspend elections in some regions or localities.

Concerns

Senate President Franklin Drilon slammed the Comelec for creating an atmosphere of fear based on unfounded assumptions that elections will not push through in some areas in the country.

“I don’t know what they are talking about, the glitches. This is something that can be addressed immediately so that the election will not be postponed,” Drilon said.

Drilon said that under the law, serious causes such as violence, terrorism, loss or destruction of paraphernalia and force majeure would justify the postponement of election in the area affected.

The camp of presidential aspirant Sen. Grace Poe asked the Comelec to explain the glitches in the voting counting machines.

“It is of public knowledge that the VCMs supplied by Smartmatic are being tested by Comelec in a storage facility in Laguna. Unfortunately, the results of such testing are hounded by undesirable feedback,” Poe’s legal counsel George Garcia said in a manifestation filed before Comelec.

Garcia said “it is quite alarming” that the Inter-agency Technical Evaluation Committee has not issued a certification or report that the hardware and software components of the automated election system are operating properly, securely and accurately in accordance with the poll automation law.

Garcia said the law provides that such certification should be accomplished not later than three months before Election Day on May 9.  

Garcia said the Comelec should hold a dialogue among concerned parties regarding the status of preparations for the coming elections.  

The opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) also expressed concern over the delays and reported glitches.

“We hope that these issues and concerns being raised in relation to the delays and glitches will not be used as reasons to allow the Comelec to invoke their power to suspend the polls or force them to go back to manual voting,” UNA spokesman Mon Ilagan said.

For his part, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said he was disappointed by the reported glitches in the system with 90 days left before the elections.

He warned Comelec could go down in history as the most incompetent if they fail to conduct simultaneous elections this May 9 because of the various glitches in their systems.

Pimentel said the Senate has scheduled a hearing next Tuesday to ask the Comelec to explain the glitches.

“Then we will test the explanations and see if these are acceptable or if they are just making excuses,” he said.  – Christina Mendez, Marvin Sy, Helen Flores, Cecille Suerte Felipe