Comelec urged to resolve issue on canvassing system for 2013

MANILA, Philippines - The multi-agency Commission on Elections Advisory Council (CAC) yesterday said there are “several conditions and recommendations” that must be fulfilled before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) can use the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) technology again in the 2013 mid-term polls.

The CAC also issued a resolution asking the poll body to resolve an “outstanding legal issue” on the consolidation and canvassing system (CCS) that it is developing for the 2013 mid-term polls.

CAC chair and Information and Communication Technology Office executive director Louis Casambre said “some of the suggested features were actually features in the 2010 PCOS machines but (they) were not effectively implemented in the 2010 elections.”

These conditions and suggestions include “the use of standard and verifiable signatures of personnel and machines, secured machine facilities, storage of raw scanned data, optional on-screen voter verification, as well as an open review of source code and circuit schematics.”

“We would like to see these security features used in the upcoming one, as they provide several levels of safeguards against electoral fraud,” Casambre said.

CAC was created under Republic Act 9369 or the poll automation law to study and recommend to the Comelec the technology that it can use in automating elections.

It is composed of representatives from the government agencies, academe, information and technology sector and non-governmental electoral reform groups.

The CAC had recommended to the Comelec the use of optical mark reader under which there are two configurations – PCOS and centralized counting system.

The Comelec had chosen to use PCOS but it is now studying whether to procure the PCOS machines used in the 2010 polls or to lease brand new ones through a public bidding.

The council had recommended that in purchasing machines for the 2013 polls, the Comelec should consider, aside from the cost of the machines, the “cost of storage and the reliability of the previously used hardware.”

It also proposed that in buying any machine, the poll body should “take into consideration that (the) ownership of the software which runs the machine is clearly stipulated as part of the purchase with the provision that the Comelec is free from any legal encumbrance as to its use in the way it deems fit for the 2013 elections and other elections thereafter.”

Casambre noted the CAC had chosen OMR for various reasons like “its ease of use, ease of voter education, high degree of auditability, proven technology, and public acceptance.”

Legal requirements scrutinized

The CAC also clarified that there may be a legal concern with the Comelec coming up with its own CCS under the poll automation law.

Casambre said the law stipulates that systems used in automated elections “must have demonstrated capability and been successfully used in a prior electoral exercise here or abroad.”

“The current CCS is a locally developed system, and we respect the Comelec’s initiative in producing it. However, it is now up to the Comelec to ascertain if the CCS meets legal requirements,” he added.

The resolution showed that the CCS “should be subjected to thorough technical review which includes a full code review by at least two independent authorities, stress testing, a security audit, exception handling as well as the possibility of being subjected to a system breach contest.”

Asked about the resolution, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said that the issue is already being reviewed by the poll body’s Law Department.

Jimenez claimed that there are various interpretations that initially came up and among them is that the Comelec’s CCS is not covered by the law because it is “not procured” but is being developed by the poll body.

“It’s a good thing that this has been raised by CAC but even before that, it has already been forwarded to our Law Department for review. We also want to make sure that (our CCS) is legally sound,” he added.

Jimenez said that in case the CCS violates the law and, therefore, cannot be used in next year’s polls, it will not go to waste because they can still be developed and used in succeeding elections.

He said the system may also be integrated in the technology that may be adapted by the Comelec in 2013, thus allowing it to be tested to “establish a track record.”

“This is actually a good step if we want to be independent from foreign suppliers. It’s part of our capability building now that we are automating our elections,” he added.