Rio to Comelec: Let’s recount votes in only this town

Comelec vowed last November to recount May 2022 election votes in selected precincts nationwide. That’s to verify results that infotech experts questioned.

Two-and-a-half months later, the poll body has yet to fulfill its word. It hasn’t even replied to the experts led by former information-communications technology secretary Eliseo Rio.

“Comelec promised to open one ballot box of our choice to recount in each of 17 regions,” Rio told this column. “That would’ve been very costly for Comelec due to the nationwide coverage and personnel involved. Plus, prone to sabotage.”

“We counter-proposed to instead reopen at least 30 boxes but in only one town proximate to Comelec’s head office – Sto. Tomas, Batangas,” Rio said. “This will be very much cheaper, easier, safer. But Comelec has been silent all this time.”

Rio, with ex-election commissioner Gus Lagman and ex-Finance Executives Institute president Franklin Ysaac, has presented proof of fraud in Election 2022.

Foremost is the use by 20,300 precincts of a single private IP address to transmit results as early as 8 a.m. of Election Day. Over 20 million votes for president, or 37 percent of ballots cast, incredibly flooded in within the first hour of counting.

The Truth and Transparency Trio blamed it on Smartmatic, Comelec’s Venezuelan electronic election systems supplier since 2010.

TNT Trio petitioned Comelec to forbid Smartmatic from any more contracting. On Nov. 29, 2023, the poll body acceded. It further ordered to:

“… [C]onduct the recount of ballots in areas in every region in the country, the procedure and extent of which to be determined, and at no cost to Petitioner.”

Since Comelec then became busy bidding out the system contract for Election 2025, TNT Trio avoided bothering it. Bidding on Dec. 29 failed due to lacking documents from sole bidder Miru Systems Co. of Korea. Rebidding held Jan. 8 had only Miru, papers completed, eligible.

On Jan. 19 the TNT Trio petitioned Comelec to open 30 “sealed boxes” in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, starting Jan. 25 or thereafter. Results are “presently the subject of an election protest … pending before Comelec. The municipal treasurer has custody of the boxes.”

One local contender got exactly the same number of votes in ten Sto. Tomas precincts, Rio said. “But we’re not interested in that complaint. We want to focus on results for president and VP.”

TNT Trio’s petition remained unanswered till last weekend. It was set to file another one Monday, Feb. 12.

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“Sensationalized news of false info.” Thus did Korea’s Miru Systems Co. dismiss criticisms of faulty electronic election systems in Iraq and Democratic Republic of Congo.

“Iraq has used our hard and software in three elections, the last only on Dec. 18,” Miru VP for election business Ken Cho told this column. “In all three, the prime minister certified success. The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq also monitored our work.”

D.R. Congo tapped Miru for national and local balloting in 2018 and 2019. The election commission also affirmed good service, Cho said.

Democracy Watch Philippines earlier complained to Comelec about Miru. Quoting news items, convenor Llyod Zaragoza claimed that Miru automated counting machines (ACMs) failed in the two countries.

Bidding P17.9 billion, Miru is Comelec’s sole eligible supplier for Election 2025. It will lease out 110,000 precinct ACMs. Plus, 220 computers with printers for canvassing/consolidation system (CCS) of ACM counts.

Cho said Miru has yet to decide whether to join biddings for the transmission system (TS). “But we will somehow be involved because our ACMs and CCS have to be interoperable with the TS.”

Miru is partnering with Filipino firms for logistics, training and info-tech. Those are St. Timothy Construction Corp., Center Point Solutions and Technologies, Inc. and Integrated Computer Systems, Inc.

The firm started in 1999 supplying high-speed scanning products and services. In 2007, it developed for Korea direct-recording electronic or touch-screen ACMs. Two years later, it rolled out optical scanning versions, akin to Smartmatic’s.

Miru ACMs that Comelec will lease combine touch-screen and optical scanning, Cho said. The latter feature will be for large elections, like congressional-local in May 2025. The former will be for barangay polling in December of that year.

Cho said they will strive to reduce voting costs. For ballots, regular A4 size office paper and ink will be used instead of cardboard, but with no blotting or bleeding on the backside.

Korean universities, unions and political parties use Miru election machines. Other country clients are Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Ecuador.

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