Senators question Comelec preference for Smartmatic

MANILA, Philippines — Senators questioned yesterday the apparent undue preference given by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to automated election system provider Smartmatic, given the string of allegations of irregularities and fraud against the company in the country and other parts of the world.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, along with Sens. Nancy Binay and Panfilo Lacson, asked the Comelec to consider reputable firms in providing automated systems for the conduct of the May 2019 senatorial and local elections.

They said Comelec officials took lawmakers by surprise when they announced the poll body will buy 97,000 used vote-counting machines (VCMs) from Smartmatic, which has been the automated election system (AES) provider in the country’s elections since 2010.

“The government, especially the Comelec, should seriously consider looking for new supplier or contractor. This is not the first time that Smartmatic’s integrity has been put to question and it is something that should not be ignored,” Lacson said.

Sotto is expected to deliver another privilege speech next week on the apparent irregularities committed by Smartmatic and other parties in the May 9, 2016 elections. 

He chided Comelec officials for questioning his privilege speech last week that there were unauthorized and early transmissions of votes a day before the polls from Smartmatic VCMs and the servers used in the elections were remotely accessed by another server based in the US.

The early transmissions, he said, apparently benefitted certain candidates for national posts.

He said Comelec spokesman James Jimenez made the poll body incompetent in doubting his exposé while at the same time announcing that an internal investigation will be conducted.

“Show me a circular or memo that shows the authorized transmission of votes to the server from May 8 to the wee hours of May 9, 2016. In the absence of such circular, did he just admit that there was indeed irregularity in the 2016 presidential elections?” Sotto said.

He said he would present more computer logs on alleged irregularities of Smartmatic when he delivers his second privilege speech on Monday.

The Senate committee on electoral reform and the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on the AES, chaired by Sen. Francis Escudero, are expected to conduct an inquiry into Sotto’s exposé.

Binay, a member of the oversight panel, said the committee sought certain documents from the Comelec during a hearing two weeks ago.

“I think it would be good to find ways on how to take back or cancel the contract (with Smartmatic),” she said.

She also wanted to find out whether the claims of Comelec officials that the poll body is constrained to deal with Smartmatic were true.