Random manual audit may extend into June

MANILA, Philippines — The ongoing random manual audit (RMA) for the May 13 midterm election might last for 24 days or until the second week of June.

This timeframe is double the target of 12 days previously set, according to Ona Caritos, executive director of poll watchdog Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente).

A team of three teachers, referred to as RMAT, could complete an audit of ballots from a ballot box in two days, she added, noting that this pace should not be taken against the teachers who are tasked to tally around 600 to 700 ballots per box.

So far, the 60 RMATs have completed audit of around 100 ballot boxes since starting the task last May 15, Caritos also said.

The deployment of teachers, all randomly selected, for the RMA would be by batches to “prevent familiarity of the ballot boxes they are auditing,” she added.

The RMA would check the accuracy of the vote counting machines (VCM) by matching the tally of votes from the ballots with those reflected on the voter’s receipts and on election returns printed from the VCM.

The Commission on Elections has partnered with Lente and the Philippine Statistics Authority for the RMA.