Hi Philstar thanks for the articles.
This is starting to look like the country’s worst nightmare waiting to come true. As the Commission on Elections put the precinct count optical scan machines through a test run Monday night, there were reports of malfunctions in several areas, with the machines failing to read ballots and report accurate results. The glitches led to the suspension of yesterday’s testing of some 15,000 PCOS machines. The malfunctions also prompted the Comelec to recall the memory cards installed in 76,000 machines for what poll officials described as reconfiguration.
The malfunction came on the heels of the failure of the machines to read the ultraviolet security markings on the ballots. This was traced to ink smudges resulting from the printing of the ballots. The problem is costing taxpayers at least P28 million for the purchase of manual UV scanners, because the UV scanning function in the PCOS machine has been disabled.
Poll officials are still studying whether the glitches during Monday’s test run were due to faulty ballot printing or a failure of the PCOS machines’ software. Responsibility for every malfunction must be pinpointed, and every effort must be made to determine if the glitches were intentionally built in to sabotage the country’s first fully automated elections and pave the way for cheating. If the glitches are deliberate, the Comelec must not hesitate to file charges against the culprits. Amended election laws, which impose stiff penalties for various forms of poll fraud, must be applied. If the Comelec shirks its duty, concerned groups can file the appropriate charges.
As important as an informed vote on May 10 is making sure that the general elections will be as glitch-free, peaceful and honest as possible in this land of dagdag-bawas and “Hello, Garci.” Comelec officials, together with executives of the company that won the poll automation contract, Smartmatic-Total Information Management, allayed public fears that the glitches would lead to a failure of elections. The test runs, they said, were meant precisely to catch such glitches in time to implement the necessary corrective measures before election day. If the glitches are found to be deliberate, the Comelec must not hesitate to go after those out to steal the elections.
The Glitch (A Computer Fantasy)
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