MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is open to a “technical audit” to prove that no cheating or manipulation happened when the transparency server stopped sending election results on Monday. Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon gave this assurance Wednesday as the poll body addressed post-poll tensions caused by technical glitches that delayed the release of the results of the transparency server shortly after voting ended at 6 p.m. ADVERTISEMENT READ: Comelec transparency server glitch delays release of partial poll results “I want to assure the public that we are open to inquiries or technical audit,” Guanzon told reporters before the Comelec, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers resumes canvassing of votes. “Ako and Commissioner (Luie Tito) Guia, we prefer an independent body to do this,” she added. Earlier, Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo said the seven-hour delay in transmitting election data to transparency and media servers was a case of a “bottleneck.” He explained that the system involving the transparency server and the data being sent to media networks got overwhelmed by the deluge of transmitted results. (Editor: Julie Espinosa) READ: Comelec blames ‘bottleneck’ for 7-hour server delay Read Next<doc-sep>MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is willing to open the logs of the transparency server at the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) headquarters to dispel doubts on the integrity of the midterm polls. The transparency server is a system that receives electronically transmitted results from polling precincts to the PPCRV that is doing quick counts for the senatorial and party-list races. At a media briefing yesterday, Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon admitted that the credibility of the elections could be questioned due to delays in transmission. But personally she said she could declare there was no cheating or “magic” that happened. Guanzon, however, gave assurance that the poll body is open to public scrutiny. “You can verify it. We are willing to have a third party that will do an audit to see the activities of the transparency server,” she said. Guanzon noted that by accessing the logs of the server, it would be “verifiable” whether there was cheating or manipulation of results. She added that aside from having electronic records of the transactions performed by the server, there are also hard copies of the election results that could be scrutinized to determine if there were irregularities. On Monday night, there was a delay in the transmission of votes but the Comelec attributed this to bottleneck of data inflow to the server. The following morning, a sudden dip was observed in the number of election returns reflected on the server. The poll body had pointed to “Java error” as cause and assured the public that data posted were updated by just restarting the system. New VCMs PPCRV national chair Myla Villanueva said the Comelec should consider looking for a better election system and purchasing new machines amid reports that 961 vote counting machines (VCMs) malfunctioned while 1,665 secure digital (SD) cards were corrupted. Villanueva made the comment after Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Smartmatic, which supplied the VCMs, should no longer be used in future elections after many of its units malfunctioned during Monday’s polls. She said the Comelec should open the bidding for new suppliers with global experience. “I think there should be more technical experts who should join in the bidding process so that all the questions would be asked before it is awarded,” Villanueva said. She said that they are asking the Comelec “a lot of questions” such as the storage and testing of the VCMs and the reason why many of the units malfunctioned. Villanueva clarified she was not saying that the Comelec failed to prepare for the elections, but they would have to determine, for instance, where to store the extra 10,000 VCMs so these could be immediately delivered to the polling precincts in case machines malfunction. As to proposals that the counting of votes should be done manually, Villanueva said she does not support the idea since “it is moving backward.” “Besides, election returns are available for a voter to check if the candidates he voted for were correctly read by the VCM,” Villanueva said. Comelec records showed that the 961 malfunctioned VCMs only comprised 1.1 percent of the total 86,769 VCMs and the 1,665 defective SD cards only represent 1.9 percent of those used in elections. Had the percentage of problematic VCMs and SD cards reached 10 percent, Villanueva said: “I will really start complaining.” Villanueva said the public would have to be vigilant until the end of the process. When asked if she was frustrated by the technical problems that arose last Monday, she said she felt tired for their volunteers who had to endure the heat to be able to assist the voters and make sure that the results of the elections would be accurate. Sub-contracted As this developed, Guanzon questioned the National Printing Office (NPO) for subcontracting the printing of voter information sheets (VIS). According to Guanzon, she got information that a governor became number two on the official ballots but was number six on the VIS. She said the Comelec had tapped the government-run NPO to print the VIS but she found out that the agency had subcontracted the printing to the Holy Family company. “We awarded it to NPO because it’s government-to-government, so no bidding needed...and that was the reason why we chose NPO. I want to ask the NPO, is it true that you subcontracted it?” she noted. Guanzon added that VIS are vital to the elections and any error in the entries “could have confused the voters.” “It could have resulted in failure of elections. It was good we immediately detected it and the commission en banc ordered to withhold the distribution (of VIS),” she said. VIS contains information vital to voters on election day like their assigned polling precincts. It should be sent out to voters before election day. “They are accountable for this. They charged us P4 per VIS for such a small sheet. If you multiply it with more than 61 million voters... it’s a big amount,” she added. Guanzon is proposing that payments to the suppliers of marking pens, ballot papers and SD cards used in the polls be withheld since an investigation will be done on the problems that occurred during the elections. Guanzon disclosed the Comelec had not made any initial payment to Triplex, which supplied the marking pens and ballot papers, and also to S1 Technologies & Silicon Valley Computer Group that provided the SD cards used in the VCMs. Comelec spokesman James Jimenez also said they would look into reports that over a million voters overvoted and thus their ballots were not counted. Clean up, declare expenses The Comelec likewise advised winners and losers in the midterm polls to clean the streets of campaign paraphernalia and other trash and spend for it. Guanzon said refusing to clean up would be “bad manners.” She, however, admitted that the Comelec has not imposed any deadline for candidates to remove all their campaign materials posted on walls and electric posts. She said the posters could be donated to people in need, like those who were victimized by fire and lost their houses.<doc-sep>MANILA, Philippines — A glitch with the transparency server of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has caused the delay in the release of partial election results, an official from the poll body said Monday. In an interview with INQUIRER.net, Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo said the problem was detected in the creation of data packets coming from the transparency server of the poll body. ADVERTISEMENT “May (There is an) issue on the creation of data packets coming from the transparency server,” he said. He clarified, however, that the Comelec continues to receive data from clustered precincts nationwide, but the results cannot be published in real time to those receiving information from the transparency server, including media outfits accredited by the agency. Casquejo also assured that the technical glitch should not cause fear among voters because the Comelec continues to receive the votes. He also said that the glitch could only be resolved if the Comelec en banc issues a resolution. As of posting time, Casquejo confirmed that the en banc has already given a go signal for the probe. “May approval na ng en banc and they are now investigating the possible glitches (The en banc has approved the probe, and they are now investigating the possible glitches),” he said. — With a report from Pathricia Ann V. Roxas (Editor: Eden Estopace) Read Next<doc-sep>MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) admitted that a technical issue slowed down the partial unofficial count on the results of the 2019 national elections. The STAR quotes Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez as saying the Comelec's transprency server, which is also supposed to send the election data to media partners, is working and has received 80% of polling results. He said the problem is not with transmission to the server, but in sending the data from the transparency server to media computers linked to it. The Comelec transparency server released partial unofficial results at around 6:15 p.m., which showed 0.38% of the results at the national level. It has not issued an update as of writing time. The transparency server was supposed to send unofficial vote counts to media groups and watchdogs in intervals of 10 to 15 minutes. As of 11:09 p.m., the Comelec website indicated that 86.69% of election returns have been transmitted to the poll body. Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez says the problem is not with the transmission but with the sending of the data from the transparency server to the media partners, PPCRV. The data stored in the transparency server has reached 80 percent. | @EZMacairan pic.twitter.com/FsDVfCDtDX — The Philippine Star (@PhilippineStar) May 13, 2019 Voting closed at 6 p.m. in most parts of the country after opening at 6 a.m. The vote counting machines were expected to transmit the vote counts to the transparency server and to the centrel server of the Comelec after polls close. Makabayan bloc seeks explanation Lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc called on the poll body to explain the lack of quick count updates on its transparency server. Rep. Sarah Elago (Kabataan Party-list) pointed out that in the two previous elections, the results were released real time. "Di tulad ng 2013, 2016 [elections] na halos real-time ito. 71% na ngayon ang nabato sa main server pero 0.38% pa lang ang nasa transparency server," Elago tweeted at 8:58 p.m. Rep. Antonio Tinio (ACT Teachers Party-list) shared the same sentiments, pointing out that the Comelec provided almost real time updates in the 2013 and 2016 automated elections. "One of the touted benefits of automation is supposed to be the quick and transparent counting of votes. This is beginning to feel like a throwback to the pre-automation era," Tinio said on Facebook.<doc-sep>
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) offered on Tuesday an explanation for the glitches in the transparency server and vote counting machines (VCMs), which one senator said could fuel doubts about the results of midterm polls that shut out the opposition. Election Commissioner Marlon Casquejo said the unofficial count was delayed after the application for pushing out the results from the Comelec transparency server to third-party organizations suffered a glitch on Monday shortly after the voting ended at 6 p.m. ADVERTISEMENT Casquejo said at a press briefing that the seven-hour delay in transmitting voting data to Comelec transparency and media servers was a case of “bottleneck.” He noted how the system involving the Comelec transparency server and the data being sent to media networks got overwhelmed by the deluge of transmitted results. Senators demanded an explanation for the glitches in the transparency server and VCMs during midterm polls on Monday. Stop using Smartmatic Senate President Vicente Sotto III is not waiting for an explanation and is instead calling on the Comelec to consider getting a new provider of VCMs. “It’s about time we stop using Smartmatic,” Sotto said, referring to the company that has been providing the machines since the country switched to an automated system in 2010. Malacañang, for its part, called on the Comelec to review its contract with Smartmatic. Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said “there must be something wrong” if hundreds of VCMs had glitches during the elections. Casquejo admitted that this year’s polls had more glitches than the 2016 elections, blaming low-quality secure digital (SD) cards and old counting machines. ADVERTISEMENT “We suspect it’s the low quality of the SD cards,” he said. An SD card stores the encrypted image of ballots fed into counting machines. He also said that the VCMs could be already “old,” noting that the counting machines were the same ones leased for the May 2016 elections. Oversight committee Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said he would convene the joint congressional oversight committee on the automated election system, which he chairs, when Congress resumes session. Pimentel disclosed his decision when asked about delays in the Comelec transparency server’s transmission of results, which set back the unofficial tallies on the senatorial race conducted by media organizations and election watchdogs. Sen. Francis Pangilinan, president of the opposition Liberal Party, said the Comelec should come up with a clear explanation for what had happened to the transparency server. “The public’s concerns and doubts about the true results of the election just grew because of your silence. Are you (the Comelec) cooking up something that the public must not know?” Pangilinan said in a statement on Tuesday. Dip in results Another error early Tuesday caused a dip in the transparency server results. The number of election returns processed was already 92.89 percent as of 5:20 a.m. but suddenly went down to 49.76 percent around 6:21 a.m. Casquejo said this was merely a “java app error” that affected all media networks and organizations getting data from the transparency server. “It was corrected again by just turning it off and on, or reset.” Lowest bid The problems in the Comelec transparency server have since been resolved on early Tuesday morning. He said this was because the Comelec had to follow the government procurement law in looking for suppliers. The law requires government agencies to accept the lowest bid for a product or service that they need as long as the supplier meets the requirements. While Smartmatic submitted a bid to supply the SD cards at P71 million, it lost in the bidding because the Comelec went for the lowest bidder of P29 million. SD card, pen suppliers Casquejo noted that the Comelec had an approved budget of about P80 million for the SD cards. “So what do we expect from SD cards worth P29 million?” Comelec Chair Sheriff Abas said he had ordered a review of the poll body’s contract with suppliers of the corrupted SD cards and other election paraphernalia to determine if they could be penalized for the glitches. Abas was referring to the 1,665 corrupted SD cards that delayed voting in many areas across the country and some 1.2 million marking pens that had to be replaced days before May 13 after incidents of blotting pens were reported. The SD cards were supplied by the joint venture of S1 Technologies Inc. and Silicon Valley Computer Group for a contract price of P22.6 million.