Comelec may still sue Smartmatic for failure to enhance PCOS machines

MANILA, Philippines - Amid the trouble caused by its rift with Dominion Voting System, Smartmatic International Corp. is not yet off the hook as far as its failure to enhance the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines for the coming May 13 polls is concerned.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brillantes said yesterday that the poll body is not yet discounting the possibility of suing Smartmatic because it failed to implement eight minor enhancements in the PCOS machines.

“We can sue Smartmatic because these enhancements are part of the contract that we signed with them when we exercised our option to purchase the machines for 2013,” he said.

But he clarified that in case the Comelec decides to file charges against Smartmatic, this might have to wait until after the May 13 polls because they are too busy with preparations.

Brillantes, however, gave assurance that the eight unimplemented enhancements are minor and would not affect the credibility and reliability of the May polls.

“Actually all the (major) enhancements that we need have already been put in place in 2011. We just have to expand them for the coming elections,” he added.

Brillantes was referring to the improvements done in the PCOS source code when the Comelec thought the machines would be used in the regional elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in August 2011.

The ARMM polls, however, were postponed and synchronized with this year’s elections instead.

He assured the public that the 2011 source code will just have to be “expanded” so the PCOS could be used in the coming polls.

Two months after the Comelec bought some 81,200 PCOS machines from Smartmatic, the latter had a falling out with Dominion that owns the system used to operate the machines.

Dominion had terminated its licensing agreement with Smartmatic.

Smartmatic later sued dominion in a court in Florida.

As a result, Dominion refused to allow the certification of the PCOS source code by SLI Global Solutions, which was contracted by Comelec to evaluate the source code. This forced the poll body to just use the 2011 source code.

Brillantes said even if Dominion gives consent to the certification, the Comelec will no longer accept it for lack of time.