Automation 2013: A Post-Mortem

I went early on May 13 to cast my vote. The precinct was in much better state than what we found in 2010. It seemed as though the different teams, the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs), the volunteers, and barangay officials had worked on a better system of time and motion which would be able to deal with the longer lines that would come later on in the day. It seemed as though those in charge had learned from the difficulties of the adjustment to the first time around with automation.

Unfortunately, the conduct of the elections nationwide shows my precinct experience was not shared by numbers of voters, many of whom were disenfranchised. I do not believe in dismissing these numbers. They were denied their rights and they are owed an explanation and an apology.

There may have been other places when the Precinct Count Optical Scan or PCOS machines worked just as smoothly as in my precinct, the lines moved as quickly as in my barangay. And yet, the Commission on Elections or COMELEC has failed its self-given deadline on election night when it announced that it would proclaim the top twelve senators by evening of the following day. It has not done so as of this writing, the evening of the third day. Its latest estimate is the proclamation of the first six winning candidates by evening on the third day after the election.

And this is automation the second time around? I still recall everyone feeling elated about the speed by which the results indicated the winners in 2010. And because it was the first time, we expected the worst.

So the failure to present the roster of winning candidates for the Senate is more than just a huge disappointment. It is a crying shame.

And it is COMELEC’s failure. The glitches, technical errors, corrupted flash cards, and lack of connectivity—all of these should have been foreseen. All manner of preparation should have been undertaken to seek remedies for these weaknesses. The failure of transmission because of weak signals is a common experience for Internet users. The lack of modems, which was also cited as a factor, would not have been so complicated to prepare for. Alternatives should have been ready for implementation.

But judging from his initial statements, the  Chair of the Commission Sixto Brilliantes Jr did not show any inclination to own up to any failing, dismissing the dysfunctioning machines as only a small percent, claiming that the results would not be affected by them.

Similarly, as the parallel, sometimes called “quick count” of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting or PPCRV also bogged down, the citizens’ arm and watchdog seemed as much in the dark about the problems, with its head, former Ambassador to the Vatican Henrietta de Villa, reportedly citing to media the explanation she was given by another COMELEC commissioner who blamed the BEIs for the malfunction. Perhaps, the PPCRV has bitten more than it can chew.

In contrast, National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL)’s post-election statement described the range of failures from all over the country, including provincial areas as far as Abra and urban centers in the National Capital Region.

Others have rued the rejection by the Commission on Appointments (COA) of the nomination of (Augusto) Gus Lagman, IT expert and a leading figure in NAMFREL, to the COMELEC. He might have made a difference and given the lawyers and non-lawyers in the Commission a perspective on the technical issues that would challenge the automation the second time around. But surely we could have all benefitted if he was consulted, or others with his kind of expertise.

I recall the controversy over retaining the PCOS machines for several reasons. So the decision to begin with was fraught with questions.

There is no question we must continue with automation. But this decision must be accompanied with expertise to match. The reliance only on legal expertise is no longer enough.

There should be a review of the conduct of automation in 2013, and COMELEC officials must be forced to evaluate every aspect, every possible cause of any glitch, which may include their own failure to appreciate and to understand the technical issues that are at the core of automation.

Such a review must be done soon, as there are other fundamental issues that affect our electoral exercise. Among these are the violence that continues to mar Philippine elections and the lack of a genuine party system.

COMELEC’s conduct reflects the tendency to set low standards for ourselves. This must be the first thing to change.